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I 


tllltissmTlfiL  (D(OT'\lit 


ANGEL-VOIGES; 

OB 


WOEDS    OF  COUNSEL 

FOR 

OYERCOMING  THE  WORLD. 


The  soal  is  cured  of  its  maladies  by  certain  incantations  ;  —  these  incanta- 
tions are  beautiful  reasons,  from  which  temperance  is  generated  in 
souls.  *  Socrates. 

These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you.  that  in  me  ye  might  have  peace. 
In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation:  but  be  of  good  cheer,  I  have 
overcome  the  world.  VIessias. 


AFTER  THE  MODK  OF 


TENTH  EDITION. 


'  QUI  FACIT  PER  ALITJM,  FACIT  PER  SE.' 


BOSTON: 
JAMES  R.  OSGOOD  AND  COMPANY, 

LATE  TICKNOR  &  FIELDS,  AND  FIELDS,  OSGOOD,  &  CO. 

18  7  1. 


Entered  according'  to  an  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1849,  by 
WILLIAM  TREAT,  OF  BUFFALO, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Northern  District  of  New  York. 


WHOSE  CHRISTIAN  FORTITUDE  UNDER  MENTAL  AFFLICTION 
GAVE   THE  IMPULSE 
TO  THIS 

BELIEVING    THAT    THE    <GIFt'    IN    SUCH  HANDS, 
CONJOINED  WITH 
KNOWN  OPENNESS  OF  HEART,  WILL  FIND  ITS  WAY 
MOST  READILY 
TO  THE 

HANDS  AND  HEARTS  OF  OTHERS. 


"  ©tveut  ctfrtg  in  empfattgttc^e  (5emftt()cr 

©uteit  ttiii)  bcfif  ©djSnen  (Samcntornev  I 
(3te  teimeit  uut>  evbluljeit  bort  ju  ^Saumett, 

Scatter  diligently  in  susceptible  minds 
The  germs  of  the  Good  and  the  Beautiful ! 
They  will  develope  there  to  trees,  bud,  bloom, 
And  bear  the  golden  fruit  of  Paradise. 


Fear  not  to  approach  I 


CONFERENCE 


Hast  thou  kindly  perception  of  great 
THOUGHT  embodied  in  nobler  act  ?  To  thee  is  in- 
trusted this  little  family  group.  The  children  here 
present,  though  few  in  number,  are  chosen  from  the 
s  loveliest  of  Earth  —  taken  from  a  select  school.  To 
thee  they  are  confided,  in  trust  by  thy  agency,  if 
deemed  competent,  they  may  be  helped  forward  as 
teachers  in  that  great  school-house  —  the  human  heart. 
The  circumstances  that  called  them  together  are 
these  :  Seeking  counsel  for  a  friend  by  word  of 
Richter's  'Best  Hours,'  we  found  there  a  living  pic- 
ture designed  chiefly  for  exhibition  at  the  dying  hour. 
Other  counsel,  other  words,  for  the  Spirit,  were  needed ; 
and,  as  will  be  seen,  Richter  has  been  pressed  into 
service  for  supply,  and  with  him  other  'ministering 
angels,'  to  speak  first  to  the  living,  thereafter  to  the 
^  dying  and  of  the  hallowed  dead.  These  we  publish 
not  without  the  full  conviction,  that  he  who  is  pre- 
pared to  live  the  MAN  is  prepared  to  die  the  saint. 

For  self  we  take  no  credit,  but  in  humility  confess 
to  be  less  than  the  least,  furnishing  comparatively 
httle  else  than  a  rude  string,  whereon  the  hopeful  and 
prayerful  may,  to  their  profit,  count  jewelled  beads. 
'  To  labor  is  to  pray,'  has  been  wisely  said.  As  gems 
of  thought  suggestive  of  thought,  to  the  truly  '  cath- 
olic' in  spirit,  it  is  hoped  these  may  not  have  an  unut- 
tered  meaning  in  the  '  prayer  by  labor.' 


6 


Stand  thy  arround, 


And  ye,  my  Lordea,  with  your  alliaunce, 
And  other  faithful  people  that  there  be, 
Trust  I  to  God  shall  quench  all  this  noisaunce, 
And  set  this  land  in  high  prosperitie... Chaucer. 

Our  design  is  to  note  each  individual  '  Voice '  when 
uttered,  by  affixing  a  numeral  thereto,  and  a  corre- 
sponding one  and  name  of  author  attached,  as  will  be 
found  in  the  Appendix. 

Little  Children,  from  the  Spirit-land,  go  forth  on 
yourmissionof  love  !  Teach  all  how  to  be  —  to  bear  — 
to  hope  —  to  act  aright!  Teach  and  preach  wher- 
ever a  Gospel  neighbor  can  be  found,  and  may  you 
conduce  as  much  to  his  strength  as  you  have  added 
to  mine  own.  While  others  perform  the  one  duty  well 
and  assiduously,  —  that  of  ministering  to  the  bodily 
wants  of  the  sick  and  infirm,  — he yotirs  the  endeavor 
to  supply  the  inner,  spirits  want,  most  meet  for  filial 
love  and  angels,  as  comprised  in  that  request  to  his 
son  by  Herder,  '  as  he  lay  in  the  parched  weariness 
of  his  last  illness,'  '  Give  me  a  great  Thought,  that  I 
may  quicken  myself  with  it ! '  Stay  not  the  work  of 
servitors  of  the  fleshly  body,  which  is  weak  and  prof- 
I  iteth  nothing,  but  if  bidden  to  tarry,  in  act  thus  reply, 
'  AVist  thou  not  that  I  must  go  about  my  Father's 
business  ? '  To  you  is  given  the  higher,  nobler  mis- 
sion, that  of  spirit  which  quickeneth.  Heed  that, 
and  in  full  Hope  rest  we  there,  then,  our  Faith,  until 
it  becomes  Sight,  in  your  working  together  for  good. 
Finally,  teach 

Each  man  to  think  himself  an  act  of  God, 
His  mind  a  thought,  his  life  a  breath  of  God ; 
And  bid  each  try,  by  great  thoughts  and  good  deeds, 
To  shew  the  most  of  heaven  he  hath  in  him... 2 


ANGEL- VOICES. 


7 


PART  I. 


Love 's  a  song,  and  Life  'a  the  singer, 
Hope  sat  listening  to  tlie  strain, 

Till  old  Time,  that  discord  bringer, 
Jarred  the  music  of  the  twain. 

Love,  and  Life,  and  Time,  together 
Rarely  yet  are  friendly  found. 

If  Love  heralds  sunny  weather, 
Time,  to  other  duties  bound, 
Buries  Life  half  under  ground: 

O,  the  lot  of  Life  how  made 
By  thee,  O  Time,  how  sad ! 

Why  should  Time  thus  fail  to  cherish 
All  that  lends  existence  worth  ? 

Wherefore  should  Love  droop  and  perish, 
As  but  doomed  to  woe  on  earth  ? 

Love,  and  Life,  and  Time,  together 
Better  friends,  we  hope,  may  be : 

If  Time 's  of  inconstant  feather, 
Love  and  Hope  should  still  agree : 
Life  is  lost  beticeen  the  three. 

O,  the  lot  of  Life  how  made 
By  thee,  O  Time,  how  sad!...b 


AN  GE  L-VO  IC  E  S 


The  Angels,  in  like  manner,  can  utter  in  a  few  words  singular  the  things 
which  are  written  in  a  volume  of  any  boolc,  anJ  can  express  such 
things,  or  every  word,  as  elevate  its  meaning  to  interior  wisdom; 
for  their  speech  is  such,  that  it  is  consonant  with  affections,  and 
every  word  with  ideas.  Expressions  are  also  varied,  by  an  infinity 
of  methods,  according  to  the  series  of  the  things  which  are  in  a 
complex  in  the  thought.  Swedenborg. 


Urge  the  truth —  let  earnest  love 

Be  than  evil  stronger; 

Good  withheld  is  Poverty 

Bearing  souls  to  penury. 

Let  us  aid  them  all  we  can, 

Every  woman,  every  man  ; 

(Every  child  can  give  a  help.) 

Smallest  helps,  if  rightly  given, 

Mal<e  the  impulse  stronger; 

('T  will  be  strong  enough  some  day  —  ) 

Toil  a  little  longer.. .b 


Of  want,  3f  sorrow,  and  of  pain, 
These  are  love's  right  to  cure  ; 

This  makes  us  fain  strong  hearts  to  gain, 
To  do  and  to  endure... 5 


AN  GEL -VOICES 


Being  tempted  :  Angels  ministered  unto  him. 


ANGEL-VOICES. 


Listen !   To  cheer  thy  heart, 
These  Angel- Voices  come, 

Whispering,  '  Onward  is  thy  path, 
And  upward  is  thy  home.'. ..45 


We  clasp  the  fetters  by  Memory  twined, 
The  wanderer's  heart  and  soul  to  bind !  ...55 

R  E  IM  E  M  B  E  R  , 

All  clouds  of  sorrow,  all  afflictions,  are  but 
Voices  of  Angels,  which  are  attuned  to  the  deaf 
in  ear  and  hard  in  heart,  that  they  may  touch  and 
make  vibrate  the  chords  of  the  inmost  soul,  or 
become  the  medium  of  mute  eloquence,  by  evolv- 
ing holy  sympathy  from  others.  They  are  the 
voices  of  holy  spirits,  and  do  thus  speak  that  all 
tribes  and  nations  may  hear,  every  man  in  his 
own  tongue.'' 

The  spirit  speaks  all  tongues,  and  understands 
Both  God's  and  angels',  man's  and  all  dumb  things', 
Down  to  an  insect's  inarticulate  hum....b 

Remember, 

The  mere  lapse  of  years  is  not  life :  to  eat  and 
drink  and  sleep;  to  be  exposed  to  the  darkness 

*  eg, 


10 


ANGEL-VOICES. 


And  he  taui^ht  then 


and  the  light ;  to  pace  round  in  the  mill  of  habit, 
and  turn  the  wheel  of  wealth;  to  make  reason 
our  book-keeper,  and  turn  thought  into  an  imple- 
ment of  trade,  —  this  is  not  life.  In  all  this,  but 
a  poor  fraction  of  the  consciousness  of  humanity 
is  awakened  ;  and  the  sanctities  still  slumber 
which  make  it  most  worth  while  to  be.  Knowl- 
edge, truth,  love,  beauty,  goodness,  faith,  alone 
give  vitality  to  the  mechanism  of  existence.  The 
laugh  of  mirth  that  vibrates  through  the  heart, 
the  tears  that  freshen  the  dry  wastes  within,  the 
music  that  brings  childhood  back,  the  prayer  that 
calls  the  future  near,  the  doubt  which  makes  us 
meditate,  the  death  which  startles  us  with  mys- 
tery, the  hardship  which  forces  us  to  struggle,  the 
anxiety  that  ends  in  trust,  —  are  the  true  nourish- 
ment of  our  natural  being.^*^ 

We  live  in  deeds,  not  years  ;  in  thoughts,  not  breaths ; 
In  feelings,  not  in  figures  on  a  dial. 
We  should  count  time  by  heart-throbs.    He  most  lives 
Who  thinks  most,  feels  the  noblest,  acts  the  best ; 
And  he  whose  heart  beats  quickest  lives  the  longest, 
Lives  in  one  hour  more  than  in  years  do  some 
Whose  fat  blood  sleeps,  as  it  slips  along  their  veins. 
Life  is  but  a  means  unto  an  end ;  that  end, 
Beginning,  mean,  and  end  to  all  things  —  God. 
The  dead  have  all  the  glory  of  the  world.. .2 

Remember, 

The  simplest  faith,  be  it  only  deep  and  trustful, 
the  very  smallest  idea  of  a  mission  in  life  as- 
signed by  God,  —  be  it  only  lovingly  and  clearly 


A  N  G  E  L-V  DICES. 


 # 

11 


Theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

seen,  — '  lifteth  the  poor  out  of  the  dust,'  and  '  to 
them  that  have  no  might  increaseth  strength.'  As 
of  old  it  hanished  disease,  and  couched  the  blind, 
and  soothed  the  maniac,  by  miracles  of  power,  so 
does  it  still  heal  and  bless  by  its  miracles  of  love. 
It  puts  a  divine  fire  into  the  dullest  soul,  and 
draws  in  Saul  also  among  the  prophets ;  it  turns 
the  peasant  into  the  apostle,  and  the  apostle's 
meanest  follower  into  the  martyr.^" 

 all  ambitious,  upwards  tending, 

Like  plants  in  mines,  which  never  saw  the  sun, 
But  dream  of  him.  and  guess  where  he  may  be, 
They  do  their  best  to  climb,  and  get  to  him. ..75 

E  E  31  E  51  B  E  R  , 

This,  and  especially  the  type  which  follows; 
place  it  securely  among  the  multitude  of  wares  in 
thy  store-house  of  '  beautiful  memories  :'  — 

There  is  a  fine  engraving  of  Jean  Paul  Eichter, 
surrounded  by  floating  clouds,  all  of  which  are 
angels'  faces  ;  but  so  soft  and  shadow}-,  that  the}" 
must  be  sought  for,  to  be  perceived.  It  was  a 
beautiful  idea  thus  to  environ  Jean  Paul,  for  who- 
soever reads  him  with  earnest  thoughtfulness  will 
see  heavenly  features  perpetually  shining  forth 

through  the  golden  mists  or  rolling  vapor  

Eemember  —  This  picture  embodies  a  great  spir- 
itual truth.  In  all  clouds  that  surround  the  soul, 
there  are  angel  faces,  and  we  should  see  them  if 


12 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S  . 


Blessed  are  they  that  mourn  : 


we  were  calm  and  holy.  It  is  because  we  are 
impatient  of  our  destiny,  and  do  not  understand 
its  use  in  our  eternal  progression,  that  the  clouds 
which  envelop  it  seem  like  black  masses  of  thun- 
der, or  cold  and  dismal  obstructions  of  the  sun- 
shine. If  man  looked  at  his  being  as  a  whole, 
or  had  faith  that  all  things  were  intended  to  bring 
him  iuto  harmony  with  the  divine  will,  he  would 
gratefully  acknowledge  that  spiritual  dew  and  rain, 
wind  and  lightning,  cloud  and  sunshine,  all  help 
his  growth,  as  their  natural  forms  bring  to  maturi- 
ty the  flowers  and  the  grain.  '  Whosoever  quarrels 
w*ith  his  fate,  does  not  understand  it,'  says  Bettine ; 
and  among  all  her  inspired  sayings,  she  spoke 
none  wiser.^ 

High  natures  must  be  thunder  scarred 

With  many  a  searing  wrong; 
Nought  unmarred  with  struggles  hard 

Can  malce  tlie  soul's  sinews  strong.. .5 

Eemember, 

The  true  scholar  —  and  may  we  not  add.  Chris- 
tian ?  —  will  feel  that  the  richest  romance,  the 
noblest  fiction,  that  ever  was  woven,  the  heart  and 
soul  of  beauty,  lies  enclosed  in  human  life.  Itself 
of  surprising  value,  it  is  also  the  richest  material 

for  his  creation  He  must  bear  his  share 

of  the  common  load.  He  must  work.  He  must 
work  with  men  in  houses,  and  not  with  their 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES.  13 

They  shall  be  comforted. 

names  in  books.  His  needs,  appetites,  talents, 
affections,  accomplishments,  are  keys  that  open  to 
him  the  beautiful  museum  of  human  life.  Why 
should  he  read  it  as  an  Arabian  tale,  and  not 
know  in  his  own  beating  bosom  its  sweet  and 
smart  ?  Out  of  love  and  hatred,  out  of  earnings 
and  borrowings  and  lendings  and  losses,  out  of 
sickness  and  pain,  out  of  wooing  and  worshipping, 
out  of  travelling  and  voting  and  watching  and 
caring,  out  of  disgrace  and  contempt,  comes  our 
tuition  in  the  serene  and  beautiful  laws.  Let  him 
not  slur  his  lesson  ;  let  him  learn  it  by  heart.  Let 
him  endeavor  exactly,  bravely,  and  cheerfully,  to 
solve  the  problem  of  that  life  which  is  set  before 
him ;  and  this  by  'punctual  action,  and  not  by 
promises  and  dreams.^ 

High  endeavors  are  an  imvard  light, 

Thai  malie  the  path  before  them  always  bright ; 

Who  fixes  good  on  good  alone  then  owes 

To  virtue  every  triumph  that  he  knows,..? 

R  E  I\I  E  H  B  E  R  , 

Many  are  the  thousands  who  let  the  man  die 
within  them,  from  cowardly  care  about  meat  and 
drink,  and  a  wann  corner  in  this  great  asylum  of 
safety,  whose  gates  have  ever  been  thronged  by 
the  multitude  who  cannot  appreciate  the  free  air 
and  open  heaven.  .  .  .  What  are  such  men  about  ? 
If  one  is  pining  in  want,  rusting  in  ignorance,  or 


^ — 
14 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  ICES. 


Blessed  are  the  meek  : 


turning  from  angel  to  devil  under  oppression,  it  is 
too  probable  another  may  be  undergoing  extinction 
in  drawing-rooms  —  surrendering  his  divine  facul- 
ties to  wither  in  lamp-light,  and  to  be  wafted 
away  in  perfume  and  praise.  As  surely  as  the 
human  thought  has  power  to  fly  abroad  over  an 
expanse  of  a  thousand  years,  it  has  need  to  rest 

on  that  far  shore  and  meditate  The  deluge 

of  oblivion  has  swept  over  their  all,  while  the 
minds  which  were  really  immortal  and  divine  are 
still  there, 

'  Forever  singing  as  ihey  shine ' 

in  the  firmament  of  thought,  and  mirrored  in  the 
deep  of  ages  out  of  which  they  arose.^ 

 For  amid  all  life's  guests 

There  seems  but  worthy  one  —  to  do  men  good ; 
It  matters  not  how  long  we  live,  but  how ; 
For  as  the  pans  of  one  mankind  while  here, 
We  live  in  every  age.. .2 

Remember, 

When  we  would  talk  of  the  world,  of  fate,  of 
chance  and  mischance,  often  in  very  bad  humor, 
to  ask,  How  much  of  this  world  have  we  seen  ? 
How  much  have  we  not  seen  ?  How  much  can — 
will  —  we  not  see  for  sheer  indolence  and  blind- 
ness ?  God  alone  knows  how  much  real, 

simple-minded,  sterling  honesty  and  truth  he  has 
sent  into  the  world.  Blessed  be  his  name  that 
he  has  given  me  eyes  to  see  it.^ 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


 * 

15 


They  shall  inherit  the  earth. 


Probe  the  profound  of  thine  own  nature,  Man  ! 
And  thou  may'st  see  reflected,  e'en  in  life, 
The  worlds,  the  heavens,  tlie  ages ;  by  and  bye, 
The  coming  come... 2 

Re  BI  EMBER, 

Inquiringly,  —  If  we  float  over  the  surface  of 
society  with  perpetual  sunshine  and  favoring  airs, 
how  can  we  sound  the  shoals  and  gulf  which  lie 
below  P 

Night  brings  out  stars,  as  sorrow  shows  us  truths.. .3 
R  E  BI  E  M  B  E  R  , 

By  earnest  endeavor,  to  gladden  the  human 
circle  in  which  we  live.  —  to  open  our  hearts  to 
the  gospel  of  life  and  nature,  seizing  each  moment 
and  the  good  which  it  brings,  be  it  friendly  glance, 
spring  breeze,  or  flower,  extracting  from  every 
moment  a  drop  of  the  honey  of  eternal  life.^ 

'  True  bliss  is  to  be  found  in  holy  life ; 
In  charity  to  men,  and  in  love  to  God.' 

Remember, 

That  though  there  is  something  painful,  yea, 
terrific,  in  feeling  one's  self  involved  in  the  great 
wheel  of  society,  which  goes  whirling  on,  crushing 
thousands  at  every  turn,  yet  though  this  relation 
of  the  individual  to  the  mass  is  the  sternest  and 
most  frightful  of  all  conflicts  between  necessity 
and  free  wiU,  here  too  conflict  should  be  harmony, 
and  will  be  so.  Put  then  far  away  from  thy  soul 
all  desire  of  retaliation,  all  angry  thoughts,  all 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  ICES. 


Blessed  are  thpy  who  hung-er  and  thirst  after  righteousness  ; 

disposition  to  overcome  or  humiliate  an  adversary, 
and  be  assured  thou  hast  done  much  to  abolish 
gallows,  chains,  and  prisons,  though  thou  hast 
never  written  or  spoken  a  word  on  the  criminal 

^0^^'  'T  is  nature's  law, 

That  none,  the  meanest  of  created  things, 
Of  forms  created  the  most  vile  and  brute, 
The  dullest  or  most  noxious,  should  exist 
Divorced  from  good  —  a  spirit  and  pulse  of  good, 
A  life  and  soul,  to  every  mode  of  being 
Inseparably  linked.    Then  be  assured 
That  least  of  all  can  aught  —  that  ever  owned 
The  heaven-regarding  eye  and  front  sublime. 
Which  man  is  born  to  —  sink,  however  depressed, 
So  low  as  to  be  scorned  without  a  sin. 
Without  offence  to  God,  cast  out  of  view.. .7 

K  E  M  E  M  B  E  R  , 

God  and  good  angels  alone  know  the  vast,  the 
incalculable  influence  that  goes  out  into  the  uni- 
verse of  spirit,  and  thence  flows  into  the  universe 
of  matter,  from  the  conquered  evil  and  the  voice- 
less prayer  of  one  solitary  soul.  Wouldst  thou 
bring  the  world  unto  God?  Then  live  near  to 
him  thyself.  If  divine  life  pervade  thine  own 
soul,  everything  that  touches  thee  will  receive 
the  electric  spark,  though  thou  mayest  be  uncon- 
scious of  being  charged  therewith.  This  surely 
would  be  the  highest,  to  strive  to  keep  near  the 
holy,  not  for  the  sake  of  our  own  reward  here  or 
hereafter,  but  that  through  love  to  God  we  might 
bless  our  neighbor.  The  human  soul  can  perceive 
this,  and  yet  the  beauty  of  the  earth  is  every- 


ANGEL-VOICES. 


17 


They  shall  be  filled. 


where  defaced  with  jails  and  gibbets  !  Angelic 
natures  can  never  deride,  else  were  there  loud 
laughter  in  heaven  at  the  discord  between  man's 
perceptions  and  his  practice.^ 

Men  miglil  be  belter,  if  we  belier  deemed 
Of  Ihem.    The  worst  way  to  improve  tlie  world 
Is  to  condemn  it.    Men  may  over-get 
Delusion  —  not  despair.. .2 

Remember, 

No  sincere  desire  of  doing  good  need  make  an 
enem.y  of  a  single  human  being ;  that  philanthropy 
has  surely  a  flaw  in  it  which  cannot  sympathize 
with  the  oppressor  equally  as  with  the  oppressed.^ 

Speak  not  bitterly  of  human  kind ; 
Oh  !  unsay  what  thou  hast  said  of  man  : 
Mind  cannot  mind  despise —  it  is  itself 
Mind  must  love  mind  :  the  great  and  good  are  friends : 
And  he  is  but  half  great  who  is  not  gootl. 

Nay,  speak  no  ill !  a  kindly  word 

Can  never  leave  a  sting  laehind ; 
Then  let  us  reach  a  higher  mood, 

The  noblest  summit  of  the  mind : 
For  life  is  but  a  passing  day, 

To  the  oldest  how  brief  its  span: 
Then  in  the  little  time  we  stay 

Let 's  speak  of  all  the  best  we  can. ..51 

Remember, 

There  is  a  law  of  neutralization  of  forces,  which 
hinders  bodies  from  sinking  beyond  a  certain  depth 
in  the  sea ;  but  in  the  ocean  of  baseness,  the  deep- 
er we  get  the  easier  the  sinking.  As  for  the  kind- 
ness which  Milton  and  Burns  felt  for  the  devil,  I 
am  sure  that  God  thinks  of  him  with  pity  a  thou- 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  I  C  E  S  . 


Blessed  are  the  merciful : 

sand  times  to  their  once,  and  the  good  Origen 
believed  him  not  incapable  of  salvation.^ 

To  raise  the  devil  were  an  infant's  task 

To  that  of  raising  man.    Why,  every  one 

Conjures  the  fiend  from  hell  into  himself 

When  passion  chokes  or  blinds  him.    Sin  is  hell...b 

Remember, 

The  love  of  the  beautiful  and  the  true,  like  the 
dew-drop  in  the  heart  of  the  crystal,  remains  for- 
ever clear  and  liquid  in  the  inmost  shrine  of  man's 
being,  though  all  the  rest  be  turned  to  stone  by 
sorrow  and  degradation.  The  angel,  who  has  once 
come  down  into  the  soul,  will  not  be  driven  thence 
by  any  sin  or  baseness  even,  much  less  by  any 
undeserved  oppression  and  wrong.  At  the  soul's 
gate  sits  she  silently,  with  folded  hands  and  down- 
cast eyes ;  but,  at  the  least  touch  of  nobleness, 
these  patient  orbs  are  serenely  uplifted,  and  the 
whole  spirit  is  lightened  with  their  prayerful 
lustre.^ 

Some  souls  lose  all,  but  the  love  of  beauty  ; 
And  by  that  love  they  are  redeemable, 
For  in  love  and  beauty  they  acknow^ledge  good  ; 
And  good  is  God... b 

Remember, 

That  some  scrap  of  a  childish  song  hath  often 
been  a  truer  alms  than  all  the  benevolent  societies 
could  give.  This  is  the  best  missionary,  knowing 
when  she  may  knock  at  the  door  of  the  most  cur- 
mudgeonly hearts,  without  being  turned  away  un- 

««—  ^  # 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES.  19 


They  shall  oblaia  mercy. 


heard.  For  poesy  is  love's  chosen  apostle,  and 
the  very  almoner  of  God.  She  is  the  home  of  the 
outcast,  and  the  wealth  of  the  needy.  She  loves 
better  the  poor  wanderer  whose  bare  feet  know  by 
heart  all  the  freezing  stones  of  the  pavement,  than 
the  delicate  maiden  for  whose  dainty  soles  Brus- 
sels and  Turkey  have  been  over-careful.^ 

Simple  melody 
Comes  on  the  heart  like  infant  innocence  — 
Pure  feeling  yet  more  pure...b 

There  is  in  souls  a  sympathy  with  sounds  ; 
And  as  the  mind  is  pitched,  the  ear  is  pleased 
With  melting  airs  or  martial,  brisk  or  grave; 
Some  chord  in  unison  with  what  we  hear 
Is  touched  within  us,  and  the  heart  replies.. .54 

Remember, 

The  making  one  object,  in  outward  or  inward 
nature,  more  holy  to  a  single  heart,  is  reward 
enough  for  a  life;  for,  the  more  sympathies  we 
gain  or  awaken  for  what  is  beautiful,  by  so  much 
deeper  will  be  our  sympathy  for  that  which  is  most 
beautiful,  —  the  human  soul.^ 

Those  there  are 
Whose  hearts  have  a  look  southward,  and  are  open 
To  the  whole  noon  of  nature.. .2 
Be  thou  of  such. 

Remember, 

That  love  never  contracts  its  circles  :  they  widen 
by  as  fixed  and  sure  a  law  as  those  around  a  peb- 
ble cast  into  still  water.   The  angel  of  love,  when, 
full  of  sorrow,  he  followed  the  first  exile^Sj  behind 
^  


*  f 

20  A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S  . 

Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart: 

whom  the  gates  of  Paradise  shut  with  that  mourn- 
ful clang,  (of  which  some  faint  echo  has  lingered 
in  the  hearts  of  all  their  offspring,)  unwittingly, 
snapped  off  and  brought  away  in  his  hand  the 
seed-pod  of  one  of  the  never-failing  flowers  which 
grew  there.  Into  all  dreary  and  desv.ilate  places 
fell  some  of  its  blessed  kernels  ;  they  asked  but 
little  soil  to  root  themselves  in,  and  in  this  narrow 
patch  of  our  poor  clay  they  sprang  most  quickly 
and  sturdily.  Gladly  they  grew,  and  from  them 
all  time  has  been  sown  with  whatever  gives  a 
higher  hope  to  the  soul,  or  makes  life  nobler  and 
more  godlike  ;  while  from  the  over-arching  sky  of 
poesy  sweet  dew  forever  falls,  to  nurse  and  keep 
them  green  and  fresh  from  the  world's  dust.^ 

There  are  those  whose  spirits  walk 
Abreast  of  angels  and  the  future,  here ; 
Respect  and  love  thou  such..,b 

Remember, 

That  the  cure  of  all  the  ills  and  wrongs,  the 
cares,  the  sorrows,  and  the  crimes  of  humanity, 
all  lie  in  that  one  word.  Love.  It  is  the  divine 
vitality  that  everywhere  produces  and  restores  life. 
To  each  and  every  one  of  us  it  gives  the  power  of 
working  miracles,  if  we  will.^ 

Man's  heart  hath  not  half  uttered  itself  yet, 

And  much  remains  to  do  as  well  as  say. 

The  heart  is  sometimis  ere  it  finds  its  focus.. .b 

*  —  * 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  I  C  E  S  . 


 1 

21 


They  shall  see  God. 


Remember, 

In  thankfulness,  thy  heavenly  Father  for  every 
manifestation  of  human  Love.  Thank  him  for  all 
experiences,  be  they  sweet  or  bitter,  which  help  to 
forgive  all  things  and  enfold  the  whole  world  with 
blessing.  '  What  shall  be  our  reward,'  asks  Sweden- 
borg,  '  for  loving  our  neighbor  as  ourselves  in  this 
life  ?  That  when  we  become  angels,  we  shall  be 
enabled  to  love  him  better  than  ourselves.'  This 
is  a  reward  pure  and  holy ;  the  only  one  which 
my  heart  has  not  rejected,  whenever  offered  as  an 
incitement  to  goodness.  It  is  this  which,  chiefly, 
makes  the  happiness  of  lovers  more  nearly  allied 
to  heaven  than  any  other  emotions  experienced  by 
the  human  heart.  Each  loves  the  other  better 
than  self;  each  is  willing  to  sacrifice  all  to  the 
other,  nay,  finds  joy  therein.  This  is  it  that  sur- 
rounds them  with  a  golden  atmosphere,  and  tinges 
the  world  with  rose-color.  A  mother's  love  has 
the  same  angelic  character ;  more  completely  un- 
selfish, but  lacking  the  charm  of  perfect  reciprocity.^ 

 He  who  needelh  love,  to  love  hath  right ; 

It  is  not  like  our  furs  and  stores  of  corn, 
Whereto  we  claim  sole  title  by  our  toil, 
But  the  Great  Spirit  plants  it  in  our  hearts, 
And  waters  it,  and  gives  it  sun,  to  be 
The  common  stock  and  heritage  of  all... 5 

Remebiber, 

If  it  be  God  whom  we  love  in  loving  our  elected 


^ — 
22 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


Icssed  are  the  peacemakers: 


one,  then  shall  the  bright  halo  of  her  spirit  expand 
itself  over  all  existence,  till  every  human  face  we 
look  upon  shall  share  in  its  transfiguration,  and 
the  old  forgotten  traces  of  brotherhood  be  lit  up 
by  it ;  and  our  love,  instead  of  pining  discomfort- 
ed, shall  be  lured  upward  and  upward  by  low, 
angelic  voices,  which  recede  before  it  forever,  as 
it  mounts  from  brightening  summit  on  the  delect- 
able mountains  of  aspirations  and  resolve  and 
deed.^ 

Dear  to  us  are  those  who  love  us :  the  swift 
moments  we  spend  with  them  are  a  compensation 
for  a  great  deal  of  misery  ;  they  enlarge  our  life  ; 
but  dearer  are  those  who  reject  us  as  unworthy, 
for  they  add  another  life  :  they  build  a  heaven 
before  us  whereof  we  had  not  dreamed,  and  there- 
by supply  to  us  new  powers  out  of  the  recesses  of 
the  spirit,  and  urge  us  to  new  and  unattempted 
performances.^ 

Speak  kindly,  O,  speak  soothingly 

To  him  whose  hopes  are  crossed, 
Whose  blessed  trust  in  human  love 

Was  early,  early  lost ! 
O,  let  the  balm  of  gentle  words 

Fall  for  the  smitten  heart  I...5 

Remeimber, 

Though  only  to  touch  upon  the  subject  of  Love 
is  like  putting  one's  hand  into  the  fire ;  it  is  the 
universal  bruise,  the  putrefying  sore,  on  which  you 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


23 


Tliey  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God. 


must  not  lay  a  finger,  or  your  patient  (that  is, 
society)  cries  out  and  resists,  and  like  a  sick  baby, 
scratches  and  kicks  its  physician.'' 

So  strange,  and  passing  strange,  is  it  that  the 
relation  between  the  sexes  —  the  passion  of  Love, 
in  short — should  not  be  taken  into  deeper  con- 
sideration by  our  teachers  and  our  legislators. 
People  educate  and  legislate  as  if  there  was  no 
such  thing  in  the  world ;  but  ask  the  priest,  ask 
the  physician :  let  them  reveal  the  amount  of 
moral  and  physical  results  from  this  one  cause. 
....  Must  Love  be  ever  treated  with  profaneness 
as  a  mere  illusion  ?  or  with  coarseness  as  a  mere 
impulse  ?  or  with  fear  as  a  mere  disease  ?  or  with 
shame  as  a  mere  weakness  ?  or  with  levity  as  a 
mere  accident  ?  whereas  it  is  a  great  mystery  and 
a  great  necessity,  lying  at  the  foundation  of  human 
existence,  morality,  and  happiness,  —  mysterious, 
universal,  inevitable  as  death.  Why,  then,  should 
Love  be  treated  less  seriously  than  Death  ?    It  is 

as  serious  a  thing  Death  must  come,  and 

Love  must  come  ;  but  the  state  in  which  they  find 
us  —  whether  blinded,  astonished,  and  frightened, 
and  ignorant,  or,  like  reasonable  creatures,  guard- 
ed, prepared,  and  fit  to  manage  our  own  feelings 
—  this  depends  on  ourselves ;  and  for  want  of  such 


*  <^ 

24  A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


Blessed  are  iliey  which  are  persecuted  for  righteoi.'jjivjss'  sake  : 


self-management  and  self-knowledge,  look  at  the 
evils  that  ensue  !  hasty,  improvident,  unsuitable 
marriages;  repining,  diseased,  or  vicious  celiba- 
cy ;  irretrievable  infamy,  cureless  insanity ;  the 
death  that  comes  early,  and  the  love  that  comes 
late,  reversing  the  primal  lav^s  of  our  nature.^^ 

God  willed  Creation  ;  but  Creation  was  not 

The  cause  of  that  Almighty  Will  of  God, 

But  that  great  God's  desire  of  emanation  : 

Beauty  of  Human  Love  the  object  is ; 

But  Love's  sweet  cause  lives  in  the  soul's  desire 

For  intellectual,  sensual  sympathies. 

Seeing  a  plain-plumed  bird,  in  whose  deep  throat 

We  know  the  richest  power  of  music  dwells, 

We  long  to  hear  its  linked  melodies  ; 

Scenting  a  far-otT  flower's  most  sweet  perfume, 

That  gives  its  balm  of  life  to  every  wind, 

We  crave  to  mark  the  beauty  of  its  bloom  : 

But  bird  nor  flower  is  that  Volition's  cause, 

But  Music  and  fine  Grace,,  graven  on  the  Soul,  like  Laws. ,.74: 

E  E  M  E  ]\I  B  E  R  , 

God's  livery  is  a  very  plain  one ;  but  its  wearers 
have  good  reason  to  be  content.  If  it  have  not  so 
much  gold  lace  about  it  as  Satan's,  it  keeps  out 
foul  weather  better,  and  is  besides  a  great  deal 
cheaper.^ 

R  E  I\I  E  M  B  E  R , 

A  judicious  silence  is  always  better  than  truth 
spoken  without  charity .^^ 

R  E  BI  E  M  B  E  R  , 

That  good  always  overcomes  the  evil,  which  is 
its  perverted  form ;  thus  love  casteth  out  hatred, 

4  —  4 


AN  GEL -VOICES. 


 * 

25 


For  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  .  .  ,  Matt.  V. 


truth  overcomes  falsehood,  and  suspicion  cannot  live 
before  frankness.  Always  and  everywhere  is  evil 
overcome  with  good.^ 

Ah,  truly  blest  alone 
Are  they  who,  by  the  wondrous  deeds  of  time, 
Gentle  or  stern,  have  learned  the  holy  peace 
Which  dwells  with  God...b 

E  E  BI  E  M  B  E  R  , 

That  a  word  spoken  in  season,  at  the  right  mo- 
ment, is  the  mother  of  ages.^^ 

To  commiserate  is  sometimes  more  than  to 
give;  for  money  is  external  to  a  man's  self,  but 
he  who  bestows  compassion  communicates  his  own 
soul.^^ 

'  There  '"s  nought  so  fathomless  as  woe  unshared.' 

We  have  our  younger  brothers,  too, 

The  poor,  the  outcast,  and  the  trodden  down, 

Left  fatherless  on  earth  to  pine  for  bread ; 

They  are  a-hungered  for  our  love  and  care, 

It  is  their  spirits  that  are  famishing, 

And  our  dear  Father,  in  his  Testament, 

Bequeathed  them  lo  us  as  our  dearest  trust, 

Wherefore  we  shall  give  a  straight  account. 

Woe,  if  we  have  forgotten  them,  and  left 

Those  souls  that  might  have  grown  so  fair  and  glad, 

That  only  wanted  a  kind  word  from  us. 

To  be  so  free  and  gently  beautiful,  — 

Left  them  to  feel  their  birthright  a  curse, 

To  grow  all  lean,  and  cramped,  and  full  of  sores. 

And,  —  last,  sad  change,  that  surely  comes  to  all 

Shut  out  from  manhood  by  their  brother  man,  — 

To  turn  mere  wolves  for  lack  of  aught  to  love... 5 

Remember, 

In  all  thy  life's  course,  that  Truth  is  strong  next 
to  the  Almighty ;  she  needs  no  policies,  no  strat- 
agems, no  licensings,  to  make  her  victorious ! 
Though  all  the  winds  of  doctrine  were  let  loose 

 ;  4 


f — '  —  

26  A  N  G  E  L-VO  I  C  E  S  . 

I  waited  patiently  for  the  Lord, 

to  play  upon  the  earth,  so  Truth  be  in  the  field,  we 
injure  her  to  misdoubt  her  strength.  Let  Truth 
and  Falsehood  grapple  :  who  ever  knew  Truth  put 
to  the  worse  in  a  free  and  open  encounter  ?^ 

Truth,  crushed  to  earth,  shall  rise  again  ; 

The  eternal  years  of  God  are  hers  ; 
While  Error,  wounded,  writhes  in  pain, 

And  dies  amidst  her  worshippers... 85 

Remember, 

There  never  was  a  right  endeavor  but  it  suc- 
ceeded. Patience  and  patience,  we  shall  win  at 
the  last.  We  must  be  very  suspicious  of  the  de- 
ceptions and  elements  of  time.  It  takes  a  good 
deal  of  time  to  eat  or  to  sleep,  or  to  earn  a  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  a  very  little  time  to  entertain  a 
hope  and  an  insight  which  becomes  the  light  of 
our  life  ;  —  daily  routine  makes  but  little  impres- 
sion ;  but  in  the  solitude  to  which  every  man  is 
always  returning,  he  has  a  sanity  and  revelations, 
which  in  his  passage  into  new  worlds  he  will  carry 
with  him.^ 

 In  the  silent  hour  of  inward  thought, 

Ever  suspect  and  still  revere  thyself 
In  lonehness  of  heart. ..b 

R  E  BI  E  M  B  E  R  , 

When  the  great  God  lets  loose  a  thinker  on  this 
planet,  then  all  things  are  at  risk.    There  is  not 
a  piece  of  science,  but  its  flank  may  be  turned 
/  to-morrow;  there  is  not  any  literary  reputation, 


4>_  c:^ 

ANGEL-VOICES.  27 

And  he  inclined  unto  me,  and  heard  my  cry. 

nor  the  so  called  eternal  names  of  fame,  that  may 

not  be  revised  and  condemned  He  claps 

wings  to  the  sides  of  all  the  solid  old  lumber  of 
the  world.^ 

Yea,  copyists  shall  die,  spark  out  and  out ; 
Minds  which  combine  and  make,  alone  can  tell 
The  bearings  and  the  workings  of  all  things 
In  and  upon  each  other... 2 

Re  BI  EMBER, 

There  do  remain  dispersed  in  the  soil  of  human 
nature,  divers  seeds  of  goodness,  of  benignity,  of 
ingenuity,  which  being  cherished,  excited,  and 
quickened  by  good  culture,  do,  by  common  expe- 
rience, thrust  out  flowers  very  lovely,  and  yield 
fruits  very  pleasant  of  virtue  and  goodness/^ 

Good  deeds  are  very  fruitful.  Out  of  one  good 
action  of  ours,  God  produces  a  thousand ;  the  har- 
vest whereof  is  perpetual.  If  good  deeds  were 
utterly  barren  and  incommodious,  I  would  seek 
after  them  from  a  consciousness  of  their  own  good- 
ness :  how  much  more  shall  I  now  be  encouraged 
to  perform  them,  that  they  are  so  profitable  both 
to  myself  and  others  ? 

Each  virtuous  mind  will  wake, 
As  the  small  pebble  stirs  the  peaceful  lake. 
The  centre  moved,  a  circle  straight  succeeds, 
Another  still,  and  still  another  spreads  : 
Friend,  kindred,  neighbor,  first  it  will  embrace, 
His  country  next,  and  next  all  human  i-ace...68 


28  A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 

And  hath  put  a  new  song  in  my  mouth, 

Remember, 

Human  duties  and  proprieties  do  not  lie  so  very- 
far  apart ;  if  they  did,  there  would  be  two  gospels 
and  two  teachers  —  one  for  man  and  one  for 
woman. 

 All  individuals  as  well  as 

All  nations  have  iheir  message  from  on  high, 
Each  the  Messiah  of  some  central  thought, 
For  the  fulfilment  and  delight  of  man ; 
One  has  to  teach  that  labor  is  divine ; 
Another,  freedom;  and  another,  mind; 
And  all,  that  God  is  open-eyed  and  just. 
The  happy  centre  and  calm  heart  of  all.. .5 

Remember, 

Music  is  a  prophecy  of  what  life  is  to  be ;  the 
rainbow  of  promise,  translated  out  of  seeing  into 
hearing.^ 

 There 's  not  a  wind  that  blows  but  bears  with  it 

Some  rainbow's  promise...  14 

Remember, 

When  our  short-sightedness  tempts  us  to  doubt, 
that  man's  work,  and  that  for  which  he  was 
born,  is  not  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  universe, 
but  to  find  out  with  what  he  has  to  do,  and  then 
restrain  himself  within  the  limits  of  his  powe:"  of 
comprehension.  He  cannot  measure  the  transac- 
tions of  the  universe ;  neither  his  powers  nor  his 
point  of  view  justify  him  in  such  an  ambition. 
The  reason  of  man  and  the  reason  of  God  are 
very  different  things.  If  you  grant  God  omnis- 
cience, man  cannot  be  free ;  —  if  the  Deity  knows 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


 * 

29 


I Even  praise  unto  our  God  ; 
how  I  shall  act,  I  micst  act  so.    I  touch  upon  this 
merely  as  an  illustration  of  how  little  we  can 
know,  and  how  foolish  it  is  to  meddle  with  divine  ■ 
mysteries.^® 

'  To  plunge  into  the  infection  of  hospitals ;  to 
survey  the  mansions  of  sorrow  and  pain ;  to  take 
the  gauge  and  dimensions  of  misery,  depression, 
and  contempt ;  to  remember  the  forgotten,  and  to 
attend  to  the  neglected,'  is  work  one  may  not  find 
a  love's  labor  lost  in  the  performing." 
Remember, 

He  that  believes  only  what  he  understands,  has 
the  shortest  known  creed. 

God  judgeth  us  by  what  we  know  of  right, 
Rather  than  what  we  practise  that  is  wrong 
Unknowingly...  5 

Remember, 

In  your  intercourse  with  sects,  —  The  sublime 
and  abstruse  doctrines  of  Christian  belief  belong 
to  the  church;  but  the  faith  of  the  individual, 
centred  in  his  heart,  is,  or  may  be,  collateral  to 
them.    Faith  is  subjective.^^ 

Whom  the  heart  of  man  shuts  out, 
Straightway  the  heart  of  God  takes  in. ..5 

Remember, 

To  read  the  Scriptures,  and  in  so  doing,  surely 
the  heart  and  soul  of  every  Christian  gives  assur- 
ance sufficient  that  in  all  things  that  concern  him 
4>  # 


'30 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


Many  sliall  see  it,  and  fear,  and  shall  tnist  in  the  Lord. 


as  a  vian,  the  words  that  he  reads  are  spirit  and 
truth,  and  could  only  proceed  from  him  who  made 
both  heart  and  soul.  Understand  the  matter  so, 
and  all  difficulty  vanishes  :  you  read  without  fear, 
lest  your  faith  meet  with  some  shock  from  a  pas- 
sage here  and  there,  which  you  cannot  reconcile 
with  immediate  dictation  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God.^^ 

Read  the  face  of  nature,  that  God- written  Bible, 
Which  all  mankind  may  study  and  explore, 
While  none  can  wrest,  interpolate,  or  libel 

Its  living  lore. 
Here  learn  we,  that  our  Maker,  whose  affection 
Knows  no  distinction  —  suffers  no  recall  — 
Sheds  his  impartial  favor  and  protection 

Alike  on  all...b 

Remember, 

To  read  the  Bible  as  the  best  of  all  books,  but 
still  as  a  book,  arid  make  use  of  all  the  means  and 
appliances  which  learning-  and  skill,  under  the 
blessing  of  God,  can  afford  towards  rightly  ap- 
prehending the  general  sense  of  it  —  not  solicitous 
to  find  out  doctrine  in  mere  epistolary  familiarity, 
or  facts  in  clear  ad  hominem  et  pro  tempore  allu- 
sions to  national  traditions. ^''^ 

Remember, 

If  the  will,  which  is  the  law  of  our  nature,  were 
withdrawn  from  our  memory,  fancy,  understand- 
ing, and  reason,  no  other  hell  could  equal,  for  a 
spiritual  being,  what  we  should  then  feel,  from  the 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S 


 # 

31 


Blessed  is  the  man  that  maketh  the  Lord  his  trust, 

anarchy  of  our  powers.    It  would  be  conscious 

madness  —  a  horrid  thought ! 

Remember, 

Man  cannot  be  utterly  lost  to  good,  for  then  he 
would  be  a  devil  at  once.  Thus  to  talk  is  absurd. 
Even  Montgomery's  '  Satan,' 

Though  by  nature  a  whh'lpool  of  desires, 
And  mighty  passions,  perilously  mixed, 
Yet,  with  the  darkness  of  the  demon  world, 
Had  he  something  of  the  light  of  heaven. 

Remember, 

That  victory  belongs  to  him  who  is  constant  in 
faith  and  courage.  That  Peter,  by  faith,  walked 
upon  the  water,  until,  momentarily  losing  his  faith, 
he  began  to  sink.  A  history,  Goethe  said,  he  loved 
better  than  any ;  as  it  expresses  the  noble  doctrine 
that  man,  through  faith  and  animated  courage, 
may  come  off  victor  in  the  most  dangerous  en- 
terprises, while  he  may  be  ruined  by  a  momentary 
paroxysm  of  doubt.^ 
Remember, 

That,  as  in  Goethe's  '  Faust,'  the  key  to  his 
salvation  was  in  his  activity,  (it, becoming  con- 
stantly higher  and  higher,  till  eternal  love  from 
heaven  came  to  his  aid,  thus  adding  to  his  own 
strength  that  of  divine  grace,)  so  likewise 

Delivered  is  the  noble  spirit 

From  the  control  of  evil  powers  ; 
Who  ceaselessly  doth  strive  must  merit 

That  we  should  save  and  malce  him  ours : 

#  ^ 


* — 
32 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S  . 


And  respectelh  not  the  proud,  nor  such  as  turn  aside  to  lies. 

Celestial  love  did  never  cease 

To  watch  him  from  its  upper  sphere ; 
The  children  of  eternal  peace 

Bear  him  to  cordial  welcome  there.. .b 

Remember, 

Not  as  Goethe  hath  it,  but  that  we  should  give 
utterance  to  our  higher  maxims,  trusting  that  some 
of  the  good  seed  may  fall  upon  good  ground,  not 
'  keeping  them  within  ourselves,  when  they  are 
not  likely  to  do  good  without,'  thus  erecting  our- 
selves into  keepers  of  the  'Lord's  treasury;'  for 
by  their  distribution,  broadcast  upon  the  waters,  if 
in  faith,  they  will  not  return  void,  but  meet  with 
some  hearts  fitted  for  their  reception,  and,  to  use 
his  own  words  for  exclusiveness,  '  they  will  not  fail 
to  diffuse  over  their  actions  the  mild  radiance  of  a 
hidden  sun.'^ 

Remember, 

He  who  refuses  forgiveness,  breaks  the  bridge 
over  which  he  must  pass  ;  for  all  need  forgiveness. 

'  To  err  is  human ;  to  forgive,  divine  :' 

How  beautiful  falls 
From  human  lips  that  blessed  word  —  forgive ! 
Thrice  happy  is  he  whose  heart  has  been  so  schooled 
In  the  meek  lessons  of  humanity, 
That  he  can  give  it  utterance:  it  imparts 
Celestial  grandeur  to  the  human  soul, 
And  maketh  man  an  angel... b 

Remember, 

The  world  is  not  so  framed  that  it  can  keep 
quiet.    Could  we  perfect  human  nature,  we  might 

4-  c§. 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


33 


Many,  O  Lord  my  God,  are  thy  wonderful  works  which  thou  hast  done, 

expect  perfection  everywhere ;  but  as  it  is,  there 
will  always  be  this  wavering  hither  and  thither ; 
one  part  must  suffer,  while  the  other  is  at  ease. 
Envy  and  egotism  will  be  always  at  work  like  bad 
demons,  and  party  conflicts  (and  those  of  sects) 
find  no  end.  Do  what  you  were  born,  or  have 
learned  to  do,  and  avoid  hindering  others  from 
doing  the  same.^^ 

Trace  the  forms 
Of  atoms  moving  with  incessant  change 
Their  elemental  round ;  behold  the  seeds 
Of  being,  and  the  energy  of  life 
Kindling  the  mass  with  ever  active  flame  ; 
Then  to  the  secrets  of  the  working  mind 
Attentive  turn... 73 

Remember, 

So  to  live  in  thy  earlier,  that  in  thy  latter  day, 
you  may  say,  as  did  Goethe  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
five,  '  One  must,  of  course,  think  frequently  of 
death.  But  this  thought  never  gives  me  the  least 
uneasiness.  I  am  so  fully  convinced  that  the  soul 
is-  indestructible,  and  that  its  activity  will  continue 
through  eternity.  It  is  like  the  sun,  which  to  our 
earthly  eyes  seems  to  set  in  night,  but  is  in  reality 
gone  to  diffuse  its  light  elsewhere.' 

R  e  M  E  BI  B  E  E  , 

And  judge  not  man  by  his  outward  manifesta- 
tion of  faith ;  for  some  there  are,  who  tremblingly 
reach  out  shaking  hands  to  the  guidance  of  Faith ; 


* — 
34 


AN  G  E  L-VO  I  C  E  S. 


And  thy  thoughts  which  are  to  us-ward. 


Others,  who  stoutly  venture  in  the  dark  their 
human  confidence,  their  leader,  which  they  mis- 
take for  Faith ;  some,  whose  Hope  totters  upon 
crutches;  others,  who  stalk  into  futurity  upon 
stilts.  The  difference  is  chiefly  constitutional  with 
them.^^ 

Remember, 

That  maxim  is  of  earth,  of  fallible  man,  which 
says,  '  The  voice  of  the  people  is  the  voice  of 
God.'  It  may  be,  but  with  equal  probability  also 
the  voice  of  the  devil.  That  the  voice  of  ten  mil- 
lions of  men  calling  for  the  same  thing,  is  a  spirit, 
I  believe ;  but  whether  that  be  the  spirit  of  heaven 
or  hell,  I  can  only  know  by  trying  the  thing  called 
for  by  the  prescript  of  reason.^^  Even  then  that 
knowledge  must  be  infinite,  embracing  the  whole 
cycle  of  God's  universe.  Better  said,  by  the 
same,  '  Public  opinion  is  the  average  prejudices  of 
the  community.' 

R  E  BI  E  M  B  E  R  , 

The  apple  falls  not  by  chance.  Chance  is  an 
unascertained  law. 

Remember, 

That  religion  is,  in  its  essence,  the  most  gentle- 
manly thing  in  the  world.    It  will  alone,  and  of 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 

35 

They  cannot  be  reckoned  up  in  order  unto  thee  : 

itself,  gentilize,  if  unmixed  with  cant ;  and  I  know 
of  nothing  else  that  will.^^ 


R  E  I\I  E  M  B  E  R  , 

Believing  with  me,  to  pray  with  all  your  heart 
and  strength,  with  the  reason  and  the  will,  to  be- 
lieve vividly  that  God  will  listen  to  your  voice 
through  Christ,  and  verily  do  the  thing  he  pleaseth 
thereupon  —  that  is  the  last,  the  greatest  achieve- 
ment of  the  Christian's  warfare  on  earth.^^ 

He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 

All  things,  both  great  and  small ; 
For  the  same  God  who  loveth  us, 

He  made  and  loveth  all...b 

Remember, 

If  a  man  is  not  rising  upwards  to  be  an  angel; 
depend  upon  it  he  is  sinking  downwards  to  be  a 
devil.  He  cannot  stop  at  the  beast.  The  most 
savage  of  men  are  not  beasts ;  they  are  worse,  a 
great  deal  worse. 

As  there  is  much  beast  and  some  devil  in  man, 
so  is  there  some  angel  and  some  God  in  him. 
The  beast  and  the  devil  may  be  conquered,  but,  in 
this  life,  never  wholly  destroyed.^^ 

Remember, 

The  Earth,  with  its  scarred  face,  is  the  sym- 
bol of  the  Past ;  the  Air  and  Heaven,  of  Futu- 
rity.^'' 

^  <^ 


# — 
36 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S  . 


If  I  would  declare  and  speak  of  them,  they  are  more  than  can  be  numbered. 

Remember, 

So  to  regard  the  absent  who  are  out  of  hearing 
as  virtually  under  the  protection  of  that  law  of 
Jewish  charity  — 

'  Thou  shall  not  curse  the  deaf. '...2] 

Remember, 

Man  is  greater  than  a  world  —  than  systems  of 
worlds  :  there  is  more  mystery  in  the  union  of 
soul  with  the  physical,  than  in  the  creation  of  an 
universe.^*' 

I  never  could  feel  any  force  in  the  arguments 
for  a  plurality  of  worlds,  in  the  common  accepta- 
tion of  that  term.  The  vulgar  inference  is  in  alio 
genere  (for  other  beings).  What  in  the  eye  of  an 
intellectual  and  omnipotent  Being  is  the  whole 
sidereal  system  to  the  soul  of  one  man  for  whom 
Christ  died?^^ 

I  will  make  a  man  more  precious  than  fine  gold  ;  even  a  man  than  the 
golden  wedge  of  Ophir...Ps.  xiii.  12. 

Coleridge  adds,  —  A  lady  once  asked  me, '  What 
then  could  be  the  intention  in  creating  so  many 
great  bodies,  so  apparently  useless  to  us  ? '  I  said, 
I  did  not  know,  except,  perhaps,  to  make  dirt 
cheap ! 

Remember, 

A  good  jest  well-timed,  for  misfortune,  may 
prove  as  food  and  drink  —  strength  to  the  arm. 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


 <^ 

37 


Sacrifice  and  ofl'erin?  thou  didst  not  desire  : 


digestion  to  the  stomach,  courage  to  the  heart.  It 
is  better  than  wisdom  or  wine.  A  prosperous  man 
may  afford  to  be  melancholy :  but  if  the  miserable 
are  so,  they  are  worse  than  dead  —  but  it  is  sure 
to  kill  them.^ 

The  aeart-gates,  mighty,  open  either  way,  — 
Come  they  to  feast,  or  go  they  forth  to  pray... 29 

Remember, 

There  are  nigh  a  thousand  million  ghosts  walk- 
ing the  earth  openly  at  noontide ;  some  half  hun- 
dred have  vanished  from  it,  some  half  hundred 
have  arisen  in  it,  ere  the  watch  tick  once.  We 
carry  ghosts  in  us  —  indeed,  we  are  very  ghosts.^^ 

Art  is  long,  and  Time  is  fleeting, 
And  our  hearts,  though  stout  and  brave, 

Still,  like  muffled  drums,  are  beating 
Funeral  marches  to  the  grave... 40 

March  —  march  —  march ! 

Earth  groans  as  they  tread  ! 
Each  carries  a  skull. 

Going  down  to  the  dead ! 

Every  stride,  every  stamp, 

Every  footfall  is  bolder ; 
'T  is  a  skeleton's  tramp. 

With  a  skull  on  his  shoulder. 

But,  ho  !  how  he  steps 

With  a  high-tossing  head, 
That  clay-covered  bone, 

Going  down  to  the  dead  .'...22 

Remember, 

And  repine  not  over  your  daily  lot ;  but  regard 
all  your  labor  solely  as  a  symbol ;  at  bottom,  it 
does  not  signify  whether  we  make  pots  or  dishes. 


38  A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 

Mine  ears  hast  thou  opened  s 

'  The  reward  of  work  well  done,  is  the  having 
done  it.' 

E  E  M  E  M  B  E  R  , 

It  is  not  always  the  dark  place  that  hinders,  but 
sometimes  the  dim  eye.^' 

 'T  is  by  comparison  an  easy  task 

Earth  to  despise ;  but  to  converse  with  heaven  — 
This  is  not  easy..,b 

Know, 

Without  or  star  or  angel  for  their  guide, 
Who  worship  God,  shall  find  him.   Humble  love, 
And  not  proud  reason,  keeps  the  door  of  heaven. 
Love  finds  admission  where  proud  science  fails. ..35 

Remember, 

The  first  creature  of  God  in  the  works  of  the 
days  was  the  light  of  the  sense ;  the  last,  was  the 
light  of  reason  :  and  his  Sabbath  work  ever  since, 
is  the  illumination  of  his  Spirit.^^  And  will  he 
not  accomplish  this  work  also  ? 

Let  our  unceasing,  earnest  prayer 
Be  e'er  for  light :  and  strength  to  beai 
Our  portion  of  the  weight  of  care 
That  crushes  into  dumb  despair 
One  half  the  human  race... 40 

Remember, 

Of  the  most  excellent  portion  of  the  soul,  it 
must  be  said,  God  has  given  it  to  each  man  as  a 
seal  of  divinity,  which  may  elevate  us  from  the 
earth  to  an  affinity  with  heaven,  for  we  are  not 
sprung  from  earth,  but  from  heaven.*^^ 

' For  we  are  His  offspring.' 


A  K  G  E  L  -  Y  0  I  C  E  S 


 ^ 

39 


Eurnt  offering  and  sin-offering  hiast  thou  l  ot  required. 
R  E  31  E  31  B  E  E  , 

And  make  search  for  tliat  '  inmost  centre  in  us 
al],  where  truth  abides  in  fuhiess;'  and  there  learn 
that  to  know 

Rather  consists  in  opening  out  a  way 
Whence  the  imprisoned  splendor  may  dart  forth 
Than  in  effecting  entry  for  a  light 
Supposed  to  be  without... 75 

R  E  31  E  M  B  E  R  , 

That  a  beautiful  form  is  better  than  a  beautiful 
face  ;  a  beautiful  behavior  is  better  than  a  beauti- 
ful form ;  it  gives  a  higher  pleasure  than  statues 
or  pictures  ;  it  is  the  finest  of  the  fine  arts.® 

For  character  groweth  day  by  day,  and  all  things  aid  it  in  unfolding ; 
And  the  "bent  unto  good  or  evil  rnay  be  given  in  the  hours  of  infancy. 
Scratch  the  green  rind  of  the  sapling,  or  wantonly  twist  it  in  the  soil, 
The  scarred  and  crooked  oak  wiU  tell  of  thee  for  centuries  to  come. ..30 

R  E  31  E  31  B  E  R  , 

Every  moment  instructs,  and  exery  object ;  for 
wisdom  is  infused  into  every  form.  It  has  been 
poured  into  us  as  blood  :  it  comTilsed  us  as  pain : 
it  slid  into  us  as  pleasure  :  it  enveloped  us  in  dull, 
melancholy  days,  or  in  days  of  cheerful  labor  :  we 
did  not  guess  its  essence  until  after  long  time.® 

All  things  are  equal,  to  the  heart  that  bears 

A  faith  unblanching  through  earth's  thousand  snares... b 

R  E  31  E  31  B  E  R  5 

To  ask  thyself,  if  sorely  tempted,  '  Can  it  be  of 
use  to  man  to  get  gold  by  injustice  ? '  Nay ;  there- 
by he  subjects  the  Beautiful  in  his  nature  to  the 


40 


AN  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


Then  said  I,  Lo,  I  come  ;  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is  written  of  me, 

Contemptible,  and  so  becomes  wretched.  When  a 
man  causes  the  Divine  in  him  to  serve  the  ungod- 
ly, and  has  no  compassion  on  himself,  is  he  not 
most  of  all  to  be  pitied  ? 

There  is  a  mighty  dawning  on  the  earth 

Of  human  glory  ;  dreams  unknown  before 

Fill  the  mind's  boundless  world,  and  wondrous  birth 

Is  given  to  great  thought ;  the  deep-drawn  lore, 

But  late  a  hidden  fount,  at  which  a  few 

Quaffed  and  were  glad,  is  now  a  flowing  river, 

Which  the  parched  nations  may  approach  and  view, 

Kneel  down  and  drink,  or  float  in  it  forever. 

The  bonds  of  Spirit  are  asunder  broken, 

And  Matter  makes  a  very  sport  of  distance ; 

On  every  side  appears  a  silent  token 

Of  what  will  be  hereafter,  when  Existence 

Shall  even  become  a  pure  and  equal  thing. 

And  earth  sweep  high  as  heaven,  on  solemn  wing... 74 

Remember, 

Now,  that  you  find  not  cause  after  to  lament,  as 
did  Sterne,  that  he  had  not  used  his  sorrows  as  a 
reasonable  man. 

'T  is  good 

To  be  subdued  at  times  ;  the  heart  is  wooed 
By  these  pure  impulses  to  purer  things. 
Cherish  within  your  souls  whatever  brings 
Moments  of  sweet  communion  with  high  thought... b 

Remember, 

There  are  two  bridges  whereby  earnest  souls 
pass  from  the  finite  to  the  infinite :  one  is  a  rain- 
bow, which  spans  the  dark  river ;  and  this  is 
Faith  :  the  other  is  a  shadow,  cast  quite  over  by 
the  giant  Superstition,  when  he  stands  between 
the  setting  sun  and  the  unknown  shore.^ 

Angels  attend  thee  !  may  their  wings 
Fan  every  shadow  from  thy  brow...b 


A  N  GE  L-VO  ICES.  41 

I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O  my  God  : 

Remember, 

'  War  is  a  game  which,  if  their  subjects  were 
wise,  kings  could  not  play  at.'  Or,  as  Mrs.  Child 
has  it,  '  War  is  a  game  in  which  the  devil  plays 
at  nine-pins  with  the  souls  of  men.'  Contemplate 
God's  image  with  a  musket.  What  a  fine  looking 
thing  is  war !  Yet,  dress  it  as  we  may,  dress  and 
feather  it,  daub  it  with  gold,  huzza  it,  and  sing 
swaggering  songs  about  it,  what  is  it,  nine  times 
out  of  ten,  but  murder  in  uniform  ?  Cain  taking 

the  sergeant's  shilling?  Yet,  O  man  of 

war !  at  this  very  moment  are  you  shrinking,  with- 
ering like  an  aged  giant.  The  fingers  of  Opinion 
have  been  busy  at  your  plumes.  You  are  not  the 
feathered  thing  you  were;  and  then  this  little  tube, 
the  goose-quill,  has  sent  its  silent  shots  into  your 
huge  anatomy,  and  the  corroding  ink,  even  whilst 
you  look  at  it,  and  think  it  shines  so  brightly,  is 
eating  with  a  tooth  of  iron  into  your  sword !  ^° 

And  backward  now  and  forward 

Wavers  the  deep  array  ; 
And  on  the  tossing  sea  of  steel 
To  and  fro  the  standards  reel ; 
And  the  victorious  trumpet  peal 

Dies  fitfully  away. 

K  E  M  E  M  B  E  R  , 

Be  assured  the  period  of  peace  and  universal 
benevolence  shall  come,  which  is  the  burden  of 
prophecy  and  the  vision  of  hope. 


42 

A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S  . 

 i'. 

Yea,  thy  law  is  within  my  heart. 

When  the  bright  chain  of  love,  that  God  hath  given, 
Shall  extend  from  heart  to  heart,  and  thence  to  heaven... 31 

Yet  much  remains 
To  conquer  still :  peace  hath  her  victories 
No  less  renovsrned  than  war... 9 

Remember, 

The  web  of  our  life  is  of  a  mingled  yarn,  good 
and  ill  together;  our  virtues  would  be  proud,  if 
our  faults  whipped  them  not ;  and  our  crimes  would 
despair,  if  they  were  not  cherished  by  our  virtues.^" 

O  !  love  and  life  are  mysterious,  both  blessing  and  both  blest, 
And  yet  how  much  they  leach  the  heart  of  trial  and  unrest  I...63 

Remember, 

The  teachings  of  the  writer  of  the  book  of  Job, 
—  who  has  drawn  down  the  heavens  to  the  earth, 
encamped  their  hosts  invisibly  around  the  bed  of 
the  languishing,  and  made  the  afflictions  of  the 
sufferer  a  spectacle  to  angels,  —  has  taught  that 
God,  too,  looks  with  a  watchful  eye  upon  his  crea- 
tures, and  exposes  them  to  the  trial  of  their  integ- 
rity for  the  maintenance  of  his  own  truth,  and  the 
promotion  of  his  own  glory .^^ 

When  he  hath  tried  me,  I  shall  come  forth  as  gold. 
He  is  one  mind,  and  who  can  turn  him  1  and  what  his  soul  desireth, 
even  that  he  doeth. 

Remember, 

The  faculty  of  Imagination  is  the  great  spring 
of  human  activity,  and  the  principal  source  of 
human  improvement.^' 

Carry  with  thee  the  impress,  a  living  picture  of 


ANGEL-VOICES.  43 

I  have  preached  rig-hteousness  in  the  groat  congregation. 

the  sufferings  of  the  destitute,  the  wants  of  the 
ignorant,  and  their  claims  to  humanity.  Nothing 
can  give  greater  energy  to  the  philanthropist,  or 
more  move  the  benevolent,  than  the  power  of  en- 
tering in  thought  into  the  situation  of  others.  In 
our  lonely  hours,  in  our  evening  meditations,  in 
our  noon-day  walks,  we  may,  in  our  minds,  see 
the  forms  of  the  sorrowing,  the  woe  of  the  op- 
pressed, the  moral  desolation  of  the  sinful.  It  is 
this  which  will  touch  the  deepest  springs  of  the 
soul,  awaken  the  noblest  sentiments,  and  lead  to 
the  most  untiring  exertions. Imagination  thus 
cultivated  bears  with  it  no  attendant  ill ;  its  want 
of  culture  is  chiefly  to  be  deprecated. 

There  sits  not  on  the  wilderness'  edge, 

In  the  dusk  lodges  of  the  wintry  North, 
Nor  couches  in  the  rice-field's  slimy  sedge, 

Nor  on  the  cold,  wild  waters  ventures  forth,  — 
Who  waits  not,  in  the  pauses  of  his  toil. 

With  hope  that  spirits  in  the  air  may  sing; 
Who  upward  turns  not  at  propitious  times. 

Breathless,  his  silent  features  listening, 
In  desert  and  in  lodge,  on  marsh  and  main, 

To  feed  his  hungry  heart  and  conquer  pain... 2d 

Remember, 

It  is  only  the  stout  heart,  and  strong,  resolute 
will,  that  enables  one  in  truth  to  say, 

This  life  of  mine 
Must  be  lived  out,  and  a  grave  thoroughly  earned. 

Pitch  then  thy  project  high  : 
Sink  not  in  spirit.    Who  aimeth  at  the  sky 
Shoots  higher  much  than  if  he  meant  a  tree. 
Let  thy  mind  still  be  bent,  still  plotting  where. 
And  when,  and  how,  the  business  may  be  done... 76 


44 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S  . 


Lo,  I  have  not  refrained  my  lips,  O  Lord,  thou  knowest. 


E  E  BI  E  M  B  E  R  , 

Love  is  the  weapon  which  Omnipotence  reserved 
to  conquer  rebel  man,  when  all  the  rest  had  failed. 
Reason  he  parries ;  fear  he  answers  blow  for  blow : 
future  interest  he  meets  with  present  pleasure; 
but  Love,  that  sun  against  whose  melting  beams 
the  winter  cannot  stand  —  that  soft  subliming  slum- 
ber which  wrestles  down  the  giant,  there  is  not 
one  human  being  in  a  million,  nor  a  thousand  men 
in  all  earth's  huge  quintillion,  whose  clay  heart  is 
hardened  against  love.^° 

'T  is  Love  unites  what  sin  divides ; 
Tlie  centre  where  all  bliss  resides ; 

To  which  the  soul  once  brought 
Reclining  on  the  first  Great  Cause, 
From  his  abounding  sweetness  draws 

Peace  passing  human  thought.. .b 

Remember, 

The  true  culture  of  the  imagination  does  not 
lead  to  sentimentalism,  but  elevates  the  mind  above 
that  which  is  selfish  and  sensual,  and  quickens  it 
into  spiritual  life,  till  it  glows  with  charity,  and  de- 
lights to  exercise  itself  in  self-denial,  and  in  a  wise 
zeal  for  the  good  of  others. 

The  imagination  is  a  native  faculty  of  the  soul. 
Its  growth  is  at  first  spontaneous.  It  simply  needs 
guidance.  Live  it  will  in  some  form ;  but  whether 
for  evil  or  for  good,  depends  on  its  culture.  If  we 
would  keep  the  imagination  healthy,  we  must  give 


^  — ^ 

A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S  .  45 


I  have  not  hid  thy  righteousness  within  my  heart  : 


it  proper  employment.  To  prevent  it  from  going 
in  a  wrong  direction,  we  have  only  to  keep  it  in 
the  right.  Preoccupy  it  by  what  is  good.  Pre- 
sent it  to  the  pure  and  fair ;  then  will  its  love  for 
the  True  shield  it  from  the  False ;  it  will  stand  as 
the  uncompromising  friend  of  Virtue ;  and,  as  the 
flaming  cherubim  guarded  the  gates  of  Eden,  it 
will  guard  the  avenues  of  the  soul.^^ 

Why,  when  all  is  bright  and  happy,  should  a  gloom 

Be  spread  around  us  ?    O,  blind  and  Ihoughlless  soul ! 

'Tis  the  same  power  that  reigns,  and  the  same  love 

Ts  traced  alike  in  sunshine  and  in  shade; 

The  cloud  that  bears  the  thunder  in  its  folds 

Comes  on  the  errand  of  good-will  to  man  ! 

O,  we  should  cling  too  close  to  earth,  and  love 

Too  well  its  pleasures  and  delight, 

Were  there  no  shadows  on  its  scenes  of  light, 

No  sorrow  mingled  with  its  cup  of  joy. 

If  sweet  fulfilment  followed  all  our  hopes. 

Like  the  unfoldings  of  a  spring  flower-bud, 

We  should  not  seek  a  better  world  than  this ; 

Where  then  would  be  the  Teachings  of  the  soul 

For  higher  pleasures,  and  those  purer  joys 

That  have  no  other  dwelling-place  but  heaven?. ..48 

"Remember, 

For  this  is  the  great  end  of  all  calamities,  God 
doth  not  willingly  afflict ;  —  trouble  never  cometh 
without  an  urgent  cause  ;  and  though  man  in  his 
perverseness  often  misses  all  the  prize  of  purity, 
whilst  he  pays  all  the  penalty  of  pain,  still  the 
motive  that  sent  sorrow  was  the  same.  In  many 
modes  the  heart  of  man  is  tried,  as  gold  must  be 
refined  by  many  methods ;  and  happiest  is  the 
heart,  that,  being  tried  by  many,  comes  purest  out 


46  ANGEL-VOICES. 


I  have  declared  thy  faithfulness  and  thy  salvation  i 


of  all.  If  prosperity  melts  it  as  a  flux,  well ;  but 
better  too  than  well,  if  the  acid  of  affliction  after- 
wards eats  away  all  unseen  impurities ;  whereas 
to  those  with  whom  the  world  is  in  their  heart, 
affluence  only  hardens  and  penury  embitters,  and 
thus,  though  they  burn  in  many  flres,  their  hearts 
are  dross  in  all. 

Hearts-ease  —  hearts-afllictions.  Of  the  un- 
thoughtful  in  prosperity,  unsoftened  by  adversity, 
well  may  it  be  said  of  them.  Hearts  of  stone,  hearts 
of  stone 

Rejoice  with  trembling,  mourn  with  hope, 

Take  life  as  life  was"given ; 
Its  rough  ascent,  its  flowery  slope, 

May  lead  alike  to  heaven. ..43 

Remember, 

'  As  no  man  liveth  to  himself,'  so  no  man  sin- 
neth  to  himself;  and  every  vagrant  habit  uprooted 
from  the  young  and  ignorant  —  every  principle  of 
duty  strengthened  —  every  encouragement  to  re- 
form offered,  and  rightly  persevered  in  —  is  casting 
a  shield  of  safety  over  the  property,  life,  peace, 
and  every  true  interest  of  community ;  so  that  it 
may  be  said  of  this  most  emphatically,  as  of  every 
duty  of  man,  '  Knowing  these  things,  happy  are 
ye  if  ye  do  them.''^'^ 

Beneath  this  starry  arch, 

Nought  resteth  or  is  still ; 
But  all  things  hold  their  march, 

As  if  by  one  great  will. 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


—  * 

47 


I  have  not  concealed  thy  loving-kindness, 


Moves  one,  move  all : 
Hark  to  the  footfall ! 
On,  on  forever ! 

Yon  sheaves  were  once  but  seed : 
Will  ripens  into  deed  ; 
As  eave-drops  swell  the  streams, 
Day  thoughts  feed  nightly  dreams ; 
And  sorrow  tracketh  wrong. 
As  echo  follows  song, 
On,  on,  forever ! 

By  night,  like  stars  on  high, 

The^ hours  reveal  their  train; 
They  whisper,  and  go  by, 
'  I  never  watch  in  vain.' 
Moves  one,  move  all : 
Hark  to  the  footfall  • 
On,  on,  forever ! 

They  pass  the  cradle-head, 
And  there  a  promise  shed ; 
They  pass  the  moist  new  grave, 
And  bid  rank  verdure  wave ; 
They  bear  through  every  clime 
The  harvests  of  all  time, 
On,  on,  forever !...  15 

R  E  M  E  IM  B  E  R  , 

When  storms  lower,  and  wintry  winds  oppress 
thee,  that  Nature,  dear  goddess,  is  beautiful,  al- 
ways beautiful !  Every  little  flake  of  snow  is 
such  a  perfect  crystal,  and  they  fall  together  so 
gracefully,  as  if  fairies  of  the  air  caught  water- 
drops  and  made  them  into  artificial  flowers  to 
garland  the  wings  of  the  wind  !  O !  it  is  the 
saddest  of  all  things,  that  even  one  human  soul 
should  dimly  perceive  the  beauty  that  is  ever 
around  us,  '  a  perpetual  benediction.'  Nature,  that 
great  missionary  of  the  Most  High,  preaches  to 
us  forever  in  all  tones  of  love,  and  writes  truth  in 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


Ar-d  thy  truth  from  the  great  congregation. 

all  colors,  on  manuscripts  illuminated  with  stars 
and  flowers.  If  we  were  in  harmony  with  the 
whole^  we  might  understand  her.  Here  and  there 
a  spirit,  less  at  discord,  hears  semi-tones  in  the 
ocean  and  wind,  and  when  the  stars  look  into  his 
heart,  he  is  stirred  with  dim  recollection  of  a  uni- 
versal language,  which  would  reveal  all,  if  he  only 
remembered  the  alphabet.^ 

If  thou  art  worn  and  hard  beset 

With  sorrow  that  thou  wouldst  forget ; 

If  thou  wouldst  read  a  lesson  that  would  keep 

Thy  heart  from  fainting  and  thy  soul  from  sleep, 

Go  to  the  woods  and  hills !  —  no  tears 

Dim  the  sweet  look  that  Nature  wears... 40 

Remember, 

For  is  it  not  Bettine  who  says.  When  one  stands 
alone  at  night  amidst  unfettered  Nature,  it  seems 
as  though  she  were  a  spirit  praying  to  man  for 
release  ?    And  should  man  set  Nature  free  ?  I 

must  reflect  upon  this :  That  man  should 

make  himself  an  imitation,  this  is  the  fact  which 
Nature  deplores,  moans  over,  deprecates  beseech- 
ingly. Be  spontaneous,  be  trustful,  be  free,  and 
thus  be  individuals,  is  the  song  she  constantly 
sings  through  warbling  birds,  and  whispering 
pines,  and  roaring  waves,  and  screeching  winds. 
She  wails  and  implores,  because  man  keeps  her  in 
captivity,  and  he  alone  can  set  her  free.  To  those 
who  rise  above  custom  and  tradition,  and  dare  to 


ANGE  L-VOICE  S. 


49 


Withhold  not  thou  thy  tender  mercies  from  me,  O  Lord  ; 

trust  their  own  wings  never  so  little  above  the 
crowd,  how  eagerly  does  she  throw  her  garland- 
ladders  to  tempt  them  upward  !  How  beautiful, 
how  angelic  seems  every  fragment  of  life  which  is 
earnest  and  true  !  ^ 

O,  not  in  the  outward  world  alone, 

May  THE  Beautifctl  be  to  the  soul  made  known ; 

In  its  own  far  depths,  in  its  inner  life, 

Silent  and  pure  is  its  spirit  rife... 33 

Remember, 

There  is  babbling  more  than  enough  ;  but 
among  it  all,  one  finds  little  true  speech  or  true 
.  silence.  The  dullest  mind  has  some  beauty  pe- 
culiarly its  own :  but  it  echoes,  and  does  not  speak 
itself.  It  strives  to  write  as  schools  have  taught, 
as  custom  dictates,  or  as  sects  prescribe ;  and  so  it 
stammers,  and  makes  no  utterance.  Nature  made 
us  individuals,  as  she  did  the  flowers  and  the  peb- 
bles, but  we  are  afraid  to  be  peculiar,  and  so  our 
society  resembles  a  bag  of  marbles  or  a  string  of 
mould  candles.  Why  should  we  all  dress  after 
the  same  fashion  ?  The  frost  never  paints  my 
windows  twice  alike. 

In  deeds  and  in  motives  untold  by  the  tongue, 

By  chisel  uncarved,  by  poets  unsung,  — 

The  Beautiful  lives  in  the  depths  of  the  soul. .,'33 

'     Re  BI  EMBER, 

Every  man  can  be  really  great,  if  he  will  only 
trust  his  own  instincts,  think  his  own  thoughts, 


50  A  N  G  E  L-VO  I  C  E  S  . 

Let  thy  loving-kindness  and  thy  truth  continually  preserve  me. 

and  say  his  own  say.  The  stupidest  fellow,  if  he 
would  but  reveal  with  childlike  honesty  how  he 
feels  and  he  thinks,  when  the  stars  wink  at  him, 
when  he  sees  the  ocean  for  the  first  time,  when 
music  comes  over  the  waters,  or  when  he  and  his 
beloved  look  into  each  other's  eyes,  —  would  he 
but  reveal  this,  the  world  would  hail  him  as  a 
genius  in  his  way,  and  would  prefer  his  story  to 
all  the  epics  that  ever  were  written,  from  Homer 
to  Scott.^ 

The  commonest  mind  is  full  of  thought,,  some  worthy  of  the  rarest ; 
And  could  it  see  them  fairly  writ,  would  wonder  at  its  wealth... b 

Kemember, 

Whatever  is  highest  and  holiest  is  tinged  with 
melancholy.  The  eye  of  genius  has  always  a 
plaintive  expression,  and  its  natural  language  is 
pathos.  A  prophet  is  sadder  than  other  men ;  and 
he  who  was  greater  than  all  prophets,  was  '  a  man 
of  sorrow  and  acquainted  with  grief.' *^ 

Remember, 

All  sorrow  raises  us  above  the  civic,  ceremonial 
law,  and  makes  the  prosaist  a  psalmist.^^ 

Never  rail  at  the  world  —  it  is  just  as  we  make  it, 

We  see  not  the  flower  if  we  see  not  the  seed ; 
And  as  for  ill  luck,  why  it's  just  as  we  take  it, 

The  heart  that 's  in  earnest  no  bars  can  impede. 
You  question  the  justice  which  governs  man's  breast. 

And  say  that  the  search  for  true  friendship  is  vain; 
But  remember,  t1iis  work!,  tliough  it  be  not  the  best, 

Is  next  to  the  best  we  shall  ever  attain : 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 

51 

For  innumerable  evils  have  compassed  me  about ; 

Never  rail  at  the  world,  nor  attempt  to  exalt 

That  feeling  which  questions  society's  claim; 
For  often  poor  friendship  is  less  in  the  fault, 

Less  chargeable  oft  than  the  selfish  who  blame ; 
Then  ne'er  by  the  changes  of  fate  be  depressed, 

Nor  wear  like  a  fetter  Time's  sorrowful  chain ; 
But  believe  that  this  world,  though  it  be  not  the  best, 

Is  next  to  the  best  we  shall  ever  attain.. .51 

Remember, 

If  thy  heart  yearns  for  love,  be  loving ;  if  thou 
wouldst  free  mankind,  be  free;  if  thou  wouldst 
have  a  brother  frank  to  thee,  be  frank  to  him : 
'  But  what  will  people  say  ? ' — Eternal  and  sure 
is  this  promise,  '  Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they 
shall  inherit  the  earth.'  Only  have  faith  in  this, 
and  thou  wilt  live  high  above  the  rewards  and 
punishments  of  that  spectral  giant,  which  men 
call  Society.  Be  found  with  thine  own  conscience 
in  that  circle  of  duties,  which  widens  ever,  till  it 
enfolds  all  beings  and  touches  the  throne  of  God.^ 

Be  noble  !  and  the  nobleness  that  lies 
In  other  men,  sleeping,  but  never  dead, 
WiU  rise  in  majesty  to  meet  thine  own...b 

Remember, 

To  think  gently  of  all,  and  include  all  without 
exception  in  the  circle  of  our  kindly  sympathies, 
not  thrusting  out  even  the  common  hangman 
(though  if  athirst,  I  should  prefer  receiving  water,  , 
if  it  required  waiting,  from  other  hands  than  his). 
Yet  what  is  the  hangman  but  a  servant  of  public 
opinion  ?  And  what  is  the  law  but  an  expression 
^  


52  A  N  G  E  L-V  DICES. 

Mine  iniquities  have  taken  hold  upon  me,  so  that  I  am  not  able  to  look  up  ; 

of  public  opinion  ?  And  if  public  opinion  is  bru- 
tal, and  thou  a  component  part  thereof,  art  thou 
not  the  hangman's  accomplice  ?  In  the  name  of 
our  common  Father,  sing  thy  part  of  the  great 
chorus  in  the  truest  time,  and  thus  bring  this 
crashing  discord  into  harmony.^ 

Man  is  dear  to  man ;  the  poorest  poor 

Long  for  some  moments  in  a  weary  life 

When  they  can  know  and  feel  that  they  have  been 

Themselves  the  fathers  and  the  dealers  out 

Of  some  small  blessings  ;  have  been  kind  to  such 

As  needed  kindness,  for  this  single  cause, 

That  we  have  all  of  us  one  human  heart... 7 

Remember, 

He  that  dies  in  an  earnest  pursuit  is  like  one 
that  is  wounded  in  hot  blood,  who  for  the  time 
scarce  feels  the  hurt ;  and  therefore  a  mind  fixed 
and  bent  upon  somewhat  that  is  good,  doth  best 
avert  the  dolors  of  death... 

But  set  thyself  about  it,  as  the  sea 
About  earth,  lashing  at  it  day  and  night; 
And  leave  the  stamp  of  thine  own  soul  in  it, 
As  thorough  as  the  fossil-flower  in  clay... 2 

Remember, 

So  to  live  as  to  be  able  to  feel  in  spirit  as  said 
that  dying,  good  man,  whose  conscience  was  void 
of  offence  —  we  allude  to  James  Nay  lor,  the 
'  enthusiastic  Quaker ' —  'There  is  a  spirit  which  I 
feel,  that  delights  to  do  no  evil,  to  revenge  no  wrong, 
but  delights  to  endure  all  things,  in  hopes  to  enjoy 
its  own  unto  the  end:  its  hope  is  to  outlive  all 


^  

A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 

They  are  more  than  the  hairs  of  mine  head  : 

wrath  and  contention,  and  to  weary  out  all  exalta- 
tion and  cruelty,  or  whatever  is  of  a  nature  con- 
trary to  itself.  It  sees  to  the  end  of  all  temptation  ; 
as  it  fears  no  evil  in  itself,  so  it  conceives  none  in 
thought  to  any  other ;  if  it  be  betrayed,  it  bears  it, 
for  its  ground  and  spring  are  the  mercies  and  for- 
giveness of  God  —  its  crown  is  meekness,  its  life 
is  everlasting  love  unfeigned,  and  takes  its  king- 
dom with  entreaty,  and  not  with  contention,  and 
keeps  it  with  lowliness  of  mind.  In  God  alone 
can  it  rejoice,  though  none  else  can  regard  it,  or 
can  own  its  life ;  it  is  conceived  in  sorrow,  and 
brought  forth  without  any  pity  for  it ;  nor  doth  it 
murmur  at  grief  and  oppression.  It  never  rejoiceth 
but  through  sufferings,  for  with  the  world's  joy  it 
is  murdered.  I  found  it  alone,  being  forsaken.  I 
have  fellowship  therein  with  them  who  live  in 
dens  and  desolate  places  in  the  earth,  who  through 
death  obtained  this  resurrection  and  eternal  life.'^ 

 for  I  do  see  a  change, 

All  rainbowed  in  the  far-off  future  time, 
When  men  will  stamp  their  demon-creeds  to  dust, 
And  know  the  Evangel  in  its  very  heart, 
Regardless  of  the  form... 60 

R  E  BI  E  ]M  B  E  R  , 

Misfortune  is  never  mournful  to  the  soul  that 
accepts  it ;  for  such  do  always  see  that  every 
cloud  is  an  angel's  face.  Every  man  deems  that 
he  has  precisely  the  trials  and  temptations  which 

I 

$>  ■  -eg 


53 


54 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S  . 


;fore  mine  heart  faileth  me. 


are  the  hardest  of  all  others  for  him  to  bear ;  but 
they  are  so,  simply  because  they  are  the  very  ones 
he  most  needs.^ 

 argue  not 

Against  Heaven's  hand  or  will,  nor  bate  a  jot 
Of  heart  or  hope ;  but  still  bear  up,  and  steer 
Right  on  ward.. .9 

Remember, 

The  vexations  of  pecuniary  difficulties  in  the 
main  come  not  out  of  man's  destiny,  and  are 
therefore  not  healthy  for  the  soul.  They  are  pro- 
duced by  the  false  structure  of  society,  which 
daily  sends  thousands  of  kind  and  generous  hearts 
down  to  ruin  and  despair,  in  its  great  whirl  of 
falsity  and  wrong.  These  are  victims  of  a  sting- 
ing grief,  which  has  nothing  divine  in  it,  and 
brings  no  healing  on  its  wings.^ 

Through  cloud  and  sunshine,  flower  and  thorn, 

Pursue  thy  even  way, 
Nor  let  thy  better  hopes  be  bom 

Of  things  that  must  decay... 43 

Remember, 

My  friend,  all  speech  and  rumor  is  short-lived, 
foolish,  untrue.  Genuine  work  alone,  what  thou 
worketh  faithfully,  that  is  eternal.  Stand  thou  by 
that,  and  let  '  Fame  '  and  the  rest  of  it  go  prating.^^ 

Take  courage,  then  —  raise  the  arm  —  strike 
home,  and  that  right  lustily :  the  citadel  of  Hope 
must  yield  to  noble  desire,  thus  seconded  by  noble 
efforts.'' 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


55 


Be  pleased,  O  Lord,  to  deliver  me. 

Work,  work  with  right  endeavor ; 

Walls  of  brass  resist  not 
A  noble  undertaking  —  nor  can  Vice 
Raise  any  bulwark  to  make  good  a  place, 
Where  Virtue  seeks  to  enter... b 

R  E  M  E  M  B  E  U  , 

And  while  remembering,  let  us  endeavor  to  be 
so  studied  in  the  soul's  anatomy,  as  to  be  able 
dexterously  to  dissect  the  old  man.^ 

So  tread  life's  path,  in  sunshine  dressed, 

V/ith  lowly,  cautious  fear ; 
That,  when  grief's  shadows  o'er  it  rest, 

Its  memory  may  be  dear... 43 

Remember, 

We  shall  not  love  our  own  household  less,  be- 
cause we  love  others  more.  In  the  beautiful  words 
of  Frederika  Bremer  — '  The  human  heart  is  like 
heaven :  the  more  angels  the  more  room.'^ 

True  piety  has  in  it  nothing  weak,  nothing  sad, 
nothing  constrained.  It  enlarges  the  heart ;  it  is 
simple,  free,  and  attractive.^^ 

It  is  to  be  doubted  whether  he  will  ever  find  the 
way  to  heaven,  who  desires  to  go  thither  alone.^^ 
Remember, 

Since  the  days  that  are  past  are  gone  forever, 
and  those  that  are  to  come  may  not  come  to  thee ; 
it  behoveth  thee  to  employ  the  present  time,  with- 
out regretting  the  loss  of  that  which  is  past,  or  too 
much  depending  on  that  which  is  to  come. 

This  instant  is  thine :  the  next  is  in  the  womb 


# — 
56 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


-4 


Let  all  those  that  seek  thee  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  thee  : 

of  futurity;  and  thou  knowest  not  what  it  may 
bring  forth. 

Look  not  mournfully  into  the  Past  —  it  is  gone ; 
Improve  the  Present  —  it  is  thine ; 
And  go  joyously  into  the  Future. ..40 

Remember, 

The  promises  of  Hope  are  sweeter  than  roses 
in  the  bud,  and  far  more  flattering  to  expectation ; 
but  the  threatenings  of  Fear  are  a  terror  to  the 
heart.  From  fear  proceedeth  misfortune  ;  but  he 
that  hopeth,  helpeth  himself.  Nevertheless,  let  no 
Hope  allure,  nor  Fear  deter  thee  from  doing  that 
which  is  right ;  so  shalt  thou  be  prepared  to  meet 
all  events  with  an  equal  mind.^^ 

It  were  a  happy  lot,  if,  every  day, 

One  had  the  power  some  act  of  grace  to  do  — 
Some  pious  hope,  or  effort  to  renew, 

Where  hope  had  swooned,  and  strength  been  swept  away 
By  suffering  or  grief  !...b 

Remember, 

If  thou  art  prevented  of  a  benefit,  fly  not  mto 
a  rage :  the  loss  of  thy  reason  is  want  of  a 
greater. 

Remember, 

And  indulge  not  thyself  in  anger :  it  is  whet- 
ting a  sword  to  wound  thine  own  breast,  or  mur- 
der thy  friend. 

Do  nothing  in  thy  passion  :  why  wilt  thou  put 
to  sea  in  the  violence  of  a  storm  ? 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


57 


Let  such  as  love  thy  salvation  say  continually, 


On  the  heels  of  Folly  treadeth  Shame :  at  the 
back  of  Anger  standeth  Remorse. 

Consider  and  forget  not  thine  own  weakness : 
so  shalt  thou  praise  the  failing  of  others.^^ 
Remember, 

It  is  the  middle  path  between  Joy  and  Grief, 
which  leads  to  the  bower  of  Contentment.  With 
her  dwelleth  Peace ;  with  her  dwelleth  Safety  and 
Tranquillity.  She  is  serious,  but  not  grave  ;  she 
vieweth  the  joys  and  the  sorrows  of  life  with 
steadiness  and  serenity .^^ 
Remember, 

The  heart  of  the  generous  man  is  like  the 
clouds  of  heaven,  which  drop  upon  the  earth  fruits, 
herbage,  and  flowers :  the  heart  of  the  ungrateful 
is  like  a  desert  of  sand,  which  swalloweth  with 
greediness  the  showers  that  fall,  but  burieth  them 
in  her  bosom,  and  produceth  nothing.^^ 

R  E  BI  E  BI  B  E  R  , 

Whilst  the  poor  man  groaneth  on  the  bed  of 
sickness,  whilst  the  unfortunate  languish  in  the 
horrors  of  a  dungeon,  or  the  hoary  head  of  age 
lifts  up  a  feeble  eye  to  thee  for  pity,  how  canst 
thou  riot  in  superfluous  enjoyments,  regardless  of 
their  wants,  unfeeling  for  their  woes  ? 

When  the  fatherless  call  upon  thee,  when  the 


# — 
58 


ANGEL- VOICES. 


The  Lord  be  magriified. 


widow's  heart  is  sunk,  and  she  imploreth  thy  as- 
sistance with  tears  of  sorrow,  remember  and  pity 
her  affliction,  and  extend  thy  hand  to  those  who 
have  none  to  help  them. 

Thine  hand,  is  it  not  a  miracle  ?  is  there  in  the 
creation  aught  like  unto  it  ?  Wherefore  was  it 
given  to  thee,  but  that  thou  mightest  stretch  it  out 
to  the  assistance  of  thy  brother  ?....^^ 

'Go  gladly,  with  true  sympathy, 

Where  Want's  pale  victims  pine, 
And  bid  life's  sweetest  smiles  again 
Along  their  pathway  shine.' 

Remember, 

The  man  who  neglecteth  his  present  concerns,  to 
revolve  how  he  will  behave  when  greater,  feedeth 
himself  with  wind,  while  his  bread  is  eaten  by 
another.^^ 

 fortune  never  comes  with  both  hands  full, 

But  writes  her  fair  words  in  foulest  letters. 
She  either  gives  a  stomach,  and  no  food, — 
Si'.ch  are  the  poor,  in  health ;  or  else  a  feast, 
And  takes  away  the  stomach,  —  such  are  the  rich, 
That  have  abundance  and  enjoy  it  not. ..50 

Remember, 

Of  all  things  living,  thou  art  alone  made  capa- 
ble of  blushing.  Consider,  the  world  shall  read 
thy  shame  upon  thy  face  —  therefore,  do  nothing 
shameful. 

Know  thyself.  The  last  and  the  pride  of  crea- 
tion ;  the  link  uniting  divinity  and  matter :  behold 
a  part  of  God  himself  within  thee  ;  remember 


ANGEL -VOICES.  59 
Thou  art  my  help  and  my  deliverer.. ..Ps.  XL. 

thine  own  dignity,  nor  dare  to  descend  to  evil 
or  meanness. 

Vaunt  not  of  thy  body,  because  it  was  first 
formed ;  nor  of  thy  brain,  because  therein  thy  soul 
resideth.  Is  not  the  master  of  the  house  more 
honorable  than  its  walls  ? 

Thy  soul  is  the  monarch  of  thy  frame  :  suffer 
not  its  subjects  to  rebel  against  it.^^ 

Remember, 

Wouldst  thou  see  thine  insufficiency  more  plain- 
ly, view  thyself  at  thy  devotions  :  to  what  end  was 
religion  instituted,  but  to  teach  thee  thine  infirmi- 
ties ?  to  remind  thee  of  thy  weakness  ?  to  show 
thee,  that  from  Heaven  alone  thou  art  to  hope  for 
good 

Religion  payeth  honor  to  thy  Maker  ;  let  it  not 
be  clouded  with  melancholy. 

Remember, 

When  thou  doest  good,  do  it  because  it  is  good, 
nor  because  men  esteem  it :  when  thou  avoidest 
evil,  flee  it  because  it  is  evil,  not  because  men 
speak  against  it ;  be  honest  for  the  love  of  honesty, 
and  thou  shalt  be  uniformly  so :  he  that  doeth  it 
without  principle  is  wavering. 

Say  not  unto  thyself,  Behold  truth  breedeth 
hatred,  and  I  will  avoid  it :  dissimulation  raiseth 


<8  

60 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S  . 


to  know  mine  end, 


friends,  and  I  will  follow  it.  Are  not  the  enemies 
made  by  truth  better  than  the  friends  obtained  by 
flattery?  3' 

R  E  M  E  BI  B  E  K  , 

The  poor  hath  chiefly  the  good  of  his  own  state 
committed  unto  him :  the  rich  is  intrusted  with 
the  welfare  of  thousands. 

He  who  squandereth  away  his  treasure,  refuseth 
the  means  to  do  good :  he  denieth  himself  the 
practice  of  virtues  whose  reward  is  in  their  hand ; 
whose  end  is  no  other  than  his  own  happiness.^^ 

In  common  worldly  things,  't  is  called  ungrateful, 
With  dull  unwillingness  to  repay  a  debt 
Which  with  a  bounteous  hand  was  kindly  lent; 
Much  more  to  be  thus  opposite  with  Heaven, 
For  it  requires  the  royal  debt  it  lent  you.. .50 

Remember, 

The  sorrows  of  a  pure  heart  are  like  May  frosts, 
the  forerunner  of  a  fervent  summer  time. 

The  tears  of  the  compassionate  are  sweeter  than 
dewdrops  falling  from  roses  on  the  bosom  of  the 
earth. 

Remember, 

It  is  not  thou  that  art  to  give  laws  to  the  world : 
thy  part  is  to  submit  to  them  as  thou  findest  them ; 
if  they  distress  thee,  thy  lamenting  is  but  adding 
to  thy  torment. 

What  is  the  source  of  sadness,  but  feebleness  of 


3—   

ANGEL-VOICES. 

61 

And  the  measure  of  my  days,  what  it  is  ; 

the  soul  ?  what  giveth  it  power,  but  the  want  of 
spirit  ?  Rouse  thyself  to  the  combat,  and  she 
quitteth  the  field  before  thou  strike th.^^ 

'  Have  I  sinned  ?   O  say  wherein ; 
Tell  me,  and  forgive  my  sin ! ' 

Remember, 

Of  permanent  griefs  there  are  none;  for  they 
are  but  clouds.  The  swifter  they  move  through 
the  sky,  the  more  follow  after  them ;  and  even  the 
immovable  ones  are  absorbed  by  the  other,  and 
become  even  smaller  till  they  vanish.^^ 

Each  substance  of  a  grief  hath  twenty  shadows ; 
Which  show  like  grief  itself,  but  are  not  so; 
For  Sorrow's  eye,  glazed  with  blinding  tears, 
Divides  one  thing  entire  to  many  objects. ..50 

Remember, 

Christianity  is  a  system  of  Love.  Like  her 
divine  Founder,  wherever  she  prosecutes  her  jour- 
ney of  mercy,  she  breathes  '  on  earth  peace,  good- 
will towards  men.'  And  in  proportion  as  we 
cherish  her  spirit,  and  are  influenced  by  her  pre- 
cepts, our  conduct  will  exemplify  '  whatsoever 
things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely, 
whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report.' 

 while  thou  shalt  smile  upon  me, 

God  of  Wisdom,  Love,  and  Might, 
Foes  may  hale,  and  friends  may  scorn  me, 

Show  thy  face,  and  all  is  bright... b 

Remember, 

Affliction  is  a  divine  diet ;  which,  though  it  be 


# — 
62 


A  N  G  E  L-V  DICES. 


That  I  may  know  how  frail  I  am. 


not  pleasing  to  mankind,  yet  Almighty  God  hath 
often,  veiy  often,  imposed  it  as  good,  though  bitter 
physic,  to  those  children  whose  souls  are  dearest 
to  Him.^2 

Teach  us,  in  time  of  deep  distress, 

To  own  thy  hand,  O  God; 
And  in  submissive  silence  leam 

The  lessons  of  thy  rod...b 

Remember, 

Nature,  indeed,  draws  tears  out  of  the  eyes,  and 
sighs  out  of  the  breast,  so  quickly,  that  the  wise 
man  can  never  wholly  lay  aside  the  garb  of  mourn- 
ing from  his  body;  but  let  his  soul  wear  none. 
Though  philosophy  may  not,  like  a  stroke  of  the 
brush  of  Rubens,  transform  a  laughing  child  into 
a  weeping  one,  it  is  well  if  it  change  the  full 
mourning  of  the  soul  into  half  mourning,  by 
teaching  us  how  to  bear  present  transient,  ills. 

Even  physical  pain  shoots  its  sparks  upon  us  out 
of  the  electrical  condenser  of  the  imagination. 
The  most  acute  pangs  could  be  endured  calmly,  if 
they  lasted  only  the  sixtieth  part  of  a  second ;  but, 
in  fact,  we  never  have  to  endure  an  hour  of  pain, 
but  only  a  succession  of  the  sixtieth  parts  of  a 
second,  the  sixty  beams  of  which  are  collected  into 
the  burning  focus  of  a  second,  and  directed  upon 
our  nerves  by  the  imagination  alone.  The  most 
painful  part  of  our  bodily  pain  is  that  which  is 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  I  C  E  S  . 


 <* 

63 


O,  spare  me,  that  I  may  recover  strength,  before  I  go  hence,  and  be  no  more. 

bodiless,  or  immaterial,  namely,  our  impatience, 
and  the  delusion  that  it  will  last  forever.^* 
Remember, 

As  Richter's  '  Firmian '  '  did  well,'  '  in  that  he 
touched  lightly  and  passed  hastily  in  narration 
over  the  bad  year  of  his  stomach,  over  his  hard 
times ^  over  the  figurative  winter  of  his  life,  though 
in  the  eyes  of  his  intimate  friend,  his  pallid,  with- 
ered face,  and  his  sunken  eye,  formed  the  frontis- 
piece of  his  months  of  ice,  and  was  a  winter  land- 
scape of  this  snow-covered  portion  of  his  path  of 
life ;  because  no  one  deserves  the  name  of  man 
who  makes  a  greater  fuss  about  the  wounds  of 
poverty  than  a  girl  makes  about  those  of  her  ears, 
since,  equally  in  both  cases,  hooks,  whereby  to 
suspend  jewels,  are  inserted  into  the  wounds.' 

'  Is  not  the  life  more  than  meat?  ' 

But  when  we  recount  the  deepest  hidden  wounds 
of  the  soul,  by  which  the  inner  man  is  riven,  then, 
like  the  discharge  of  pent-up,  peccant  matter,  by 
the  surgeon's  lance,  find  we  relief  from  pain-pulses 
in  the  flow  of  tears  shed  by  sympathy  by  the  true 
friend.'' 

 Light  came  from  darkness,  gladness  from  despair, 

As,  when  the  sunlight  fadeth  from  the  earth, 
Star  after  star  comes  out  upon  the  sky, 
And  shining  worlds,  that  had  not  been  revealed 
In  day's  full  light,  are  then  made  manifest. 
Thus  it  is  when,  light  of  earth  shut  out, 


#  — .g, 

64  A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 

Behold,  thou  hast  made  my  days  as  an  handbreadth  ; 

Our  thoughts  turned  inward,  we  discover  there 
Things  of  immortal  wonder,  living  springs 
Of  an  unfailing  comfort ;  hidden  things 
Brigiiter  than  earth's  allurements.    We  can  trace 
The  operations  of  the  immortal  mind, 
On  its  high  path  to  excellence  and  joy, 
And  see  the  prize  of  its  high  caUing  there.. .48 

Remember, 

Of  losses  man  is  subject  to,  no  one  there  is 
greater  than  loss  of  self.  The  soul  that  cannot 
erect  itself, — walketh  not  upright,  —  is  deformed 
indeed.  '  What  profiteth  it  a  man  if  he  gain  the 
whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  or  what  shall 
he  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul  ? '  ^ 

'Vice  is  a  monster  of  so  horrid  mien. 
To  be  hated  it  needs  but  to  be  seen.' 

Remebiber, 

In  all  thy  strivings,  all  thy  buffetings,  all  thy 
yearnings  of  spirit,  that 

Greatness  and  goodness  are  not  means,  but  ends ; 
Hath  he  not  always  treasures,  always  friends, 
The  good,  great  man?   Tliree  treasures  — Love  and  Light, 
And  calm  Thoughts,  regular  as  infant's  breath :  — 
And  three  firm  friends,  more  sure  than  day  and  night, 
Himself,  his  Maker,  and  the  Angel  Death...!" 

Remember, 

In  joy  and  affliction,  and  resolve  with  Siebenkas : 
'  It  is  thy  intention  to  try  ,  my  soul,  good  Destiny, 
and  therefore  dost  thou  put  it  into  every  position, 
as  a  man  does  his  watch,  into  a  perpendicular  and 
a  horizontal  position,  easy  and  uneasy  ones,  in 
order  to  see  whether  it  goes  well,  and  shows  the 
time  correctly.    Verily  it  shall ! ' 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


 # 

651 


And  mine  age  Is  as  nothing  before  thee  : 

 For  what  was  called 

Affliction,  brought  an  evidence  of  love. 

It  came  disguised  in  sorrow's  livery, 

But  it  threw  off  her  borrowed  garb,  and,  lo ! 

The  white-robed  Angel  of  celestial  love, 

With  her  sweet  influence,  was  there.    She  stilled 

His  troubled  thoughts,  opened  his  blinded  heart, 

And  led  him  out  beyond  the  changing  earth, 

And  pointed  up  to  the  Eternal  Mind, 

That  taketh  knowledge  of  a  sparrow's  fall, 

And  lights  a  world  with  glory  ;  that  will  hear 

A  sigh's  low  music  'mid  the  swelling  praise 

Which  I'ushea  upward  from  a  thousand  realms.. .48 

Remember, 

It  has  been  said  of  old  time,  '  He  that  is  angry 
with  his  brother  without  cause ^  shall  be,  yea,  verily 
is,  in  danger  of  the  judgment :'  but  have  we  not 
now  of  the  Father,  through  the  Son  and  the  Holy 
Spirit,  that  better  law  which  knoweth  no  cause  for 
anger  ?  Verily,  have  we  not  all  one  Father,  Him 
who  created  us  all  of  one  blood  ?  Are  we  not  all 
brethren  ?  Bear  we  not  God's  image  ?  Breathed 
he  not  of  his  quickening  spirit  into  us  ?  '  Canst 
thou  not  endure  with  thy  brother's  small  offences 
for  a  brief  time,  when  thy  Father  hast  endured 
thy  many  and  often  flagrant  sins  through  thy 
whole  life?'  O  my  brother!  put  away  far  from 
thee  all  anger  —  conte  m  pt  —  evil-speaking  —  evil 
suggestions  —  all  that  savors  not  of  humility;  for 
aught  else  is  but  the  soul-snares  of  the  Tempter. 
By  our  entreaties,  by  our  sorrows,  by  our  tears, 
we  would  cause  thee  to  feel  thou  hast  a  brother 


^  :  ^ 

66  ANGEL  - VOICES. 

Verily,  every  man  iii  his  best  estate  is  altogether  as  vanity.  Selah. 


who  will  not,  cannot  forsake  thee,  but  would  have 
thee  see  in  him  that  image,  that  spirit,  which  com- 
eth  from  the  Father,  (and  which  thou  art  marring,) 
working  its  perfect  work,  through  patience  ;  fight- 
ing the  good  fight,  finishing  the  faith,  ere  it 
returneth  home  to  the  bosom  of  the  Eternal  and 
Uncreate.^ 

Think  gently  of  the  erring ! 

Ye  know  not  of  the  power 
With  which  tlie  dark  temptation  came 

In  some  unguarded  hour. 
Ye  may  not  know  how  earnestly 

They  struggled,  or  liow  well, 
Until  the  hour  of  sadness  came, 

And  sadly  thus  they  fell. 

Think  gently  of  the  erring  ! 

O,  do  not  then  forget, 
However  darkly  stained  by  sin, 

He  is  thy  brother  yet. 
Heir  of  the  self-same  heritage ! 

Child  of  the  self-same  God ! 
He  hath  but  stumbled  in  the  path 

Thou  haist  in  weakness  trod. 

Speak  gently  to  the  erring ! 

For  is  it  not  enough 
That  innocence  and  peace  are  gone, 

Without  thy  censure  rough? 
It  sure  must  be  a  weary  lot 

That  sin-crushed  heart  to  bear, 
And  they  who  share  a  happier  fate 

Their  chidings  well  may  spare. 

Speak  kindly  to  the  erring ! 

Thou  yet  may'st  lead  them  back, 
With  holy  words  and  tones  of  love, 

From  misery's  thorny  track. 
Forget  not  thou  hast  often  sinned. 

And  sinful  niay  yet  be; 
Deal  gently  with  the  erring  one, 

As  God  hath  dealt  with  thee.. .66 


I 


A  N  GE  L-VO  I  C  E  S. 


 * 

67 


The  righteous  cry,  and  the  Lord  heareth, 


R  E  M  E  M  B  E  S  , 

That  as  in  the  natural,  so  in  the  spiritual  world, 
thorns  are  but  imperfectly  developed  branches, 

waiting  culture  Christ  is  the  true  vine,  we 

are  the  branches.  0,  how  imperfectly  developed  ! 
the  best  scarcely  attain  to  the  bearing  of  fruit,  not 
ripe  fruit. 

Let  us  not,  by  our  repining,  so  cloud  the  Eden 
of  others,  so  withhold  the  sun  from  our  fellows,  as 
to  retard  their  attaining  to  the  stature  of  the  per- 
fect man  —  the  man  Christ  Jesus.* 

Extremity  is  the  trier  of  spirita ; 
Common  chances  common  men  could  bear:  — 
When  the  sea  is  calm,  all  boats  alike 
Show  mastership  in  floating... 50 

Remember, 

Prayer  is  no  invention  of  man.  It  was  born 
with  the  first  sigh,  with  the  first  joy,  the  first  sor- 
row, of  the  human  heart.  Man  was  born  to  pray ; 
to  glorify  God,  or  to  implore  Him,  was  his  only 
mission  here  below ;  all  else  perishes  before  him, 
or  with  him.  It  is  the  only  thing  in  man  which 
is  wholly  divine,  and  which  he  can  exhale  with 
joy  and  pride ;  for  this  pride  is  a  homage  to  Him 
to  whom  alone  homage  is  due  —  the  Infinite  Being. 

The  more  we  reflect,  the  more  we  find  that  man 
has  nothing  great  or  beautiful  appertaining  to  him 
that  comes  from  his  own  power  or  will ;  but  that 


# — 

68 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S  . 


And  dcliveieth  them  out  of  all  their  troubles. 


all  that  is  supremely  beautiful  comes  immediately 
from  nature  and  from  God.  Christianity,  which 
embraces  all,  has  comprised  it  from  the  beginning. 
The  first  apostles  felt  in  them  that  immediate 
action  of  the  divinity,  and  exclaimed  at  once  —  . 
*  Every  good  and  perfect  gift  cometh  from  God.' 

Prayer!  mighty  accent  —  language  winged — supreme  — 

Which  in  a  single  sigh  blends  all  of  love, 

"Which  makes  a  thousand  loved  ones,  scattered  far, 

Seen  by  the  heart,  and  present  before  God ; 

Making  among  them,  by  fair  virtue's  boon, 

The  viewless  interchange  of  heaven's  best  gifts, 

One  general  speech,  which  swells  unto  the  sky, 

And  rises  higher  to  be  better  heard. 

Incense  unquenchable,  which  doth  perfume 

Him  who  receives  and  him  who  lights  the  flame.. .90 

E  E  M  E  BI  B  E  R  , 

Two  sentiments  alone  suffice  for  man,  were  he 
to  live  the  age  of  the  rocks  —  love,  and  the  con- 
templation of  the  Deity.^° 

He  MEMBER, 

In  thy  silent  wishing,  thy  voiceless,  unuttered 
prayer,  let  the  desire  be  not  cherished  that  afflic- 
tions may  not  visit  thee ;  for  well  has  it  been  said, 
'  Such  prayers  never  seem  to  have  wings.  I  am 
willing  to  be  purified  through  sorrow,  and  to  accept 
it  meekly  as  a  blessing.  I  see  that  all  the  clouds 
are  angels'  faces,  and  their  voices  speak  harmo- 
niously of  the  everlasting  chime.' ^ 

For  what  shall  I  praise  thee,  my  God  and  my  King? 
For  what  blessings  the  tribute  of  gratitude  bring? 
Shall  I  praise  thee  for  pleasure,  for  health,  or  for  ease  ? 
For  the  sunshine  of  youth,  for  the  garden  of  peace  ? 

^  4 


AN  GEL  - VOICES. 


 # 

69 


Many  are  their  afflictions. 


Shall  T  praise  thee  for  flowers  that  bloomed  on  my  breast? 
For  joys  in  perspective,  and  pleasure  possessed? 
For  tlie  spirits  that  briglttened  my  days  of  delight? 
For  the  slumbers  that  sat  on  my  pillow  by  night? 

For  this  should  I  thank  thee  :  but  if  only  for  ihia, 
I  should  leave  half  untold  the  donation  of  bliss ;  — 
I  thank  thee  for  sickness,  for  sorrow,  for  care, 
For  the  thorns  I  have  gathered,  the  anguish  I  share ; 

For  nights  of  anxiety,  watchings,  and  tears, 

A  present  of  pain,  a  perspective  of  fears ; 

I  thank  thee,  I  bless  thee,  my  King  and  my  God, 

For  the  good  and  the  evil  thy  hand  hath  bestowed — 

The  flowers  were  sweet,  but  their  fragrance  is  flown; 
They  yielded  no  fruit  —  they  are  withered  and  gone ! 
The  thorn,  it  was  poignant,  but  precious  to  me, 
'Twas  the  message  of  mercy,  it  led  me  to  thee  !...67 

Reimembered  be, 

This  '  Life's  '  last,  chief,  and  crowning  counsel,  urging  onw^ard  ever 
To  noblest  efforts  :  If  Time  fail  thee,  shaU  Life  fail  never. 
Though  finished  be  the  course,  kept  be  the  faith  and  the  race  run, 
The  crown  of  glory  stiU  waits  thee,  and  the  greeting,  '  Well  done  —  well 
done !'  ...a 


Why  should  man  give  way  to  doubtings,  —  why,  0,  why,  should  he  de- 
spair? 

Surely  God  beholds  with  pity  all  his  trouble,  all  his  care  : 

Shall  the  earth  bear  thistles  alway  ?  shall  man  from  his  woes  part  never  ? 

Cast,  O  cast  aside  such  falsehood ;  Truth  and  Hope  beck  onward  ever. 

Pause  not,  shrink  not,  though  the  prospect  seemeth  cheerless  now  and 
dark ; 

Brace  thy  strong  limbs,  steel  thy  stout  heart,  up,  and  boldly  launch  thy 
bark ; 

Courage,  Faith  give  half  the  battle  :  slaves  may  fear,  but  freemen  never; 
Look  aloft  — be  this  thy  watchword,    Onward,  onward,  onward  ever ! " 

Onward  in  the  path  of  duty,  mindful  only  of  the  right. 

In  each  work  of  goodness  joining  with  thy  heart  and  with  thy  might; 

God  will  surely  not  desert  thee  in  the  holy,  high  endeavor ; 

Let  this  hope,  then,  give  assurance,  while  resolved  to  press  on  ever. 

Seems  far  distant  to  thy  vision  good  for  which  hath  yearned  thy  soul? 
Yet  reflect,  each  step  thou  taketh  bringeth  thee  nearer  to  the  goal ; 
The  pursuit  will  bring  enjoyment,  though  the  end  thou  reachest  never; 
Then  resolve  stiU  to  press  onward,  seeking  truth  and  virtue  ever. 


70 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  I  C  E  S 


But  the  Lord  delivereth  out  of  them  all. 


Are  there  those  who  would  deride  thee?  call  thee  visionary,  wild? 
Heed  them  not  for  well  thou  knowest  Prejudice  is  Folly's  child ; 
They  have  their  reward  — thou  thine,  following  every  new  endeavor; 
Each  advance  is  a  fresh  triumph,  which  but  woos  thee  onward  ever. 

Each  advance  will  open  wider  the  broad  field  of  active  good, 

As  thy  destiny  unfolding,  shall  be  better  understood ; 

Thus  as  strength  for  good  increases,  still  advancing,  pausing  never, 

Thou  wilt  yet  win  higher  conquests,  pressing  onward,  onward  ever ! 

"Bard  of  Avon." 

And  now,  Reader^  for  a  little  season  we  part 
with  thee  in  words  and  sentiment  following : 

I  saw  two  clouds  at  morning, 

Tinged  with  the  rising  sun; 
And  in  the  dawn  they  floated  on 

And  mingled  into  one  : 
T  thought  that  morning  cloud  was  blest, 

It  moved  so  sweetly  to  the  west, 

I  saw  two  summer  currents 

Flow  smoothly  to  their  meeting, 
And  join  their  course,  with  silent  force 

In  peace  each  other  greeting : 
Calm  was  their  course  through  banks  of  green, 

While  dimpling  eddies  played  between. 

Such  be  your  gentle  motion. 

Till  life's  last  pulse  shall  beat; 
Like  summer's  beam,  and  summer's  stream, 

Float  on,  in  joy,  to  meet 
A  calmer  sea,  where  storms  shall  cease  — 
A  purer  sky,  where  all  is  peace.. .53 


END  OF  PART  I. 


If  my  life  bee  but  my  walke,  and  Heaven  my  home, 


INTRODUCTION 

TO 

PAUT  II. 


Reader, 

Once  more  we  wish  a  few  words  aside  with 
thee.  Coleridge  has  said,  '  One  should  never  be  very 
forward  in  offering  spiritual  consolations  to  those  in 
distress.'  These,  to  be  of  any  service,  must  be  self- 
evolved  in  the  first  instance.  To  this,  if  memory 
serves,  Seneca  fully  accords.  Laboring,  as  we  do,  in 
a  profession  which  calls  for  ministering  to  bodily  infirm- 
ities, and  requires  our  presence  oft  at  the  bedside  of 
the  dying  —  the  house  of  mourning  —  words  may  have 
seemed  called  for  at  such  times  of  trial,  addressed  to 
the  souls  of  the  living  afflicted  friends.  These  we 
have  withheld,  for  reason  as  assigned  by  Seneca  and 
Coleridge  above.  Indeed,  as  old  is  the  authority  which 
dictates  this  as  the  first  sympathetic  heart.  The  an- 
cient writer  of  the  book  of  Job  represents  the  latter's 
friends  sitting  in  silence  :  '  And  they  spake  not  a  word, 
knowing  that  his  grief  was  great.'  We,  with  them, 
have  preferred  to  wait  a  more  'fitting  season  '  hoping 
by  nice  discrimination  to  determine  whe7i  such  conso- 


But  yet  the  shorter  my  journey, 


lation  can  be  most  profitably  received,  for  surely  the 
time  will  present,  must  be,  when  we  are  to  begin  to 
'  bear  one  another's  burthens  '  and  <  weep  with  those 
who  weep.' 

Here  followmg  will  be  found  the  spirit  of  the  utter- 
ings  which  we  would  offer.  That  others  in  the  Pro- 
fession will  accord  in  the  sentiment  and  join  in  our 
offering,  we  make  no  doubt,  for  their  peculiar  oppor- 
tunities for  discipline,  by  sight,  oft  repeated  sight,  of 
the  '  ills  flesh  is  heir  to,'  tend  to  enlarge  and  mature 
the  heart,  each  throb  answering  to  that  universal  law 
of  exercise  —  better  development. 

If  we  did  but  take  the  Pilgrim's  seat  in  the  common 
pathway  leading  from  one  of  our  populous  cities  to 
the  tomb,  then  would  all  be  reminded  of  the  nearness 
and  frequency  of  Death,  although  they  were  not  num- 
bered with  those  whose  avocation  fits  and  leads  them 
I  to  compute  that  of  the  cultured,  nurtured,  civilized  of 
our  race,  one  in  twenty -seven  die  in  each  year,  and 
that  only  three  fifths  of  the  infant  portion  escape  early 
death !  Such  the  disparity  in  frequency  of  death  be- 
tween adults  and  infants  —  so  many  are  the  hearts 
which  are  touched  annually  by  separation  from  loved 
ones  —  so  many  are  those  which  call  for  ^  Angel 
Voices'  to  minister  unto  them — we  have  deemed  it 
of  worth  to  summon  such  Voices,  and  permit  them 
to  speak  in  order.  First  of  death  generally,  and  of 
adults,  then  of  death  of  childhood  and  infancy. 


«>  ■  ^ 

ANGEL-VOICES.  73 


PART  II. 


#0  SemKi. 


We  had  the  sentence  of  death  in  ourselves,  that  we  should  not  trust  in 
ourselves,  but  in  God  who  raiselh  the  dead... 2  Cor.  i.  9. 

Yet  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  him ; 
He  hath  put  him  to  grief.. .Isaiah  liii. 

Have  pity  upon  me,  have  pity  upon  me,  O  ye  my  friends !  for  the  hand 
of  God  hath  touched  me.. .Job. 

That  which  thou  soweth  is  not  quickened  except  it  die... St.  Paul. 

Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Set  thine  house  in  order;  for  thou  shall  die,  and 
not  live.. .Isaiah  xxxviii. 


The  clay  that  is  moistened  sends  back  no  sound.    Yes,  Death  is  silent 
to  the  ear,  but  it  ever  speaketh  to  the  heart.. .20 


Dead !  what  can,  what  does  that  mean? 
O,  tell  me,  I  pray,  ye  wise  men  — 

Resolve  the  doubt  for  me  !  

They  are  dumb  —  all  silent  !...a...65 

Death  is  but 
A  kind  and  gentle  servant,  who  unlocks. 
With  noiseless  hand,  life's  flower-encircled  door, 
To  show  us  those  we  love...b 

Death  is  another  life.   We  bow  our  heads 
At  going  out,  we  think,  and  enter  straight 
Another  golden  chamber  of  the  King's, 
Larger  than  this  we  leave,  and  lovelier.. .b 


Death  gives  us  sleep,  eternal  youth,  and  inuxiortality...34 


^ — 
74 


AN  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


For  we  must  needs  die,  and  are  as  water  spilt  on  the  ground,  which 
cannot  he  gathered  up  again;  neither  doth  God  respect  any  per- 
son ;  yet  doth  he  devise  means  that  his  banished  be  not  expelled 
from  him., .2  Sam.  xiv.  14. 

Put  thou  my  tears  into  thy  bottle :  are  they  not  in  thy  book?. ..Psalm 
Ivi,  8. 

If  ye  loved  me,  ye  would  rejoice,  because  I  am  gone  to  the  Father... 
Jesus  Christ. 


Not  for  him,  but  for  us,  should  our  tears  now  be  shed ; 
Mourn,  mourn  for  the  living,  but  not  for  the  dead. 
Let  the  dirge  be  unsung,  and  awaken  the  psalm : 
No  cypress  for  him  who  lies  crowned  with  the  palm. 

Though  with  tears  for  his  parting 

Our  eyes  may  be  dim. 
For  ourselves  they  are  falling, 

Not  for  him  —  not  for  him...b 


Mourner,  joy  !  an  angel's  pathway 
Brightens  with  thy  treasured  flower; 

Wings  unseen  its  perfume  bear  thee, 
Sweetest  in  life's  darkest  hour. 

Christian,  joy!  no  tie  is  broken  — 
All  love's  strength  thou  may'st  retain — 

God  removes  —  but  faith  has  spoken, 
Heaven  shall  yield  thee  all  again  !...32 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  I  C  E  S  .  75 


Hearken  unto  the  word  of  the  Lnrd. 


ANGEL-VOICES. 


The  good  and  the  true 
Never  die  —  never  die : 

Though  gone,  they  are  here, 
Ever  nigh  —  ever  nigh. .  .b 


Remember, 

Wouldst  thou  learn  to  die  nobly,  let  thy  vices 
die  before  thee.^^ 

The  dead  in  Christ  repose  in  guarded  rest; 
Hope,  in  their  graves,  kindles  her  never-dying  lamp, 
And  throws  upon  their  treasured  dust  a  steady  ray 
Full  of  immortality. ..b 

Remember, 

Blessed  are  the  ministrations  of  sorrow !  Through 
it  we  are  brought  into  more  tender  relationship  to 
all  other  forms  of  being,  obtain  a  deeper  insight 
into  the  mystery  of  eternal  life,  and  feel  more  dis- 
tinctly the  breathings  of  the  Infinite.^ 

'  It  is  the  sorrow  which  God  appoints  is  purify- 
ing and  ennobling,  and  contains  within  it  a  serious 
joy.'  Our  Father  saw  that  disappointment  and 
separation  were  necessary,  and  he  has  made  them 
holy  and  elevating.  From  the  sepulchre  the  stone 
^  :  <^ 


76  A  N  G  E  L-VO  I  C  E  S. 

Beliold,  I  will  bring-  ag-ain  the  shadow  of  ihe  degrees, 

is  rolled  away,  and  Angels  declare  to  the  mourn- 
ers, '  He  is  not  here,  he  is  risen ;  why  seek  ye  the 
living  among  the  dead  ? '  And  a  voice  proclaims, 
'  Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also.' 

'  There  is  no  Death  to  those  who  know  of  Life ; 
No  Time  to  those  wlio  see  Eternity.' 

Remember, 

There  is  a  voice  from  the  tomb  sweeter  than 
song;  there  is  a  remembrance  of  the  dead,  to 
which  we  turn  even  from  the  charms  of  the  living. 
These  we  would  not  exchange  for  the  song  of 
pleasure  or  the  bursts  of  revelry .^^ 

With  what  a  marvellous  vigor  can  the  soul 
Put  forth  its  hidden  strength,  looking  at  Death 
As  at  Angel  from  the  courts  of  God ! 
And  with  what  beauty,  at  the  closing  hour, 
Will  childhood's  sweet  affections  blossom  out.. .28 

Remember, 

This,  the  soul's  questioning :  —  If  the  soul  lose 
this  poor  mansion  of  hers  by  the  sudden  conflagra- 
tion of  disease,  or  by  the  slow  decay  of  age,  is  she 
therefore  houseless  and  shelterless?  If  she  cast 
away  this  soiled  and  tattered  garment,  is  she 
therefore  naked?  —  A  child  looks  forward  to  his 
new  suit,  and  dons  it  joyfully;  we  cling  to  our 
rags  and  foulness.  Ask  thyself,  why  we  should 
not  welcome  Death  as  one  who  brings  us  tidings 
of  the  finding  of  long-lost  titles  to  a  large  family 
estate,  and  set  out  gladly  to  take  possession, 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


77 


Which  is  gone  down  in  the  sun-dial  of  Ahaz. 


though,  it  may  be,  not  without  a  natural  tear 
for  the  humbler  home  we  are  leaving.  Death  al- 
ways means  us  a  kindness,  though  he  has  often  a 
gruff  way  of  offering  it.  Even  if  the  soul  never 
returns  from  that  chartless  and  unmapped  country, 
which  I  do  not  believe,  I  would  take  this  reason 
as  a  good  one.^ 

As  Noah's  pigeon,  which  returned  no  more, 
Did  show  she  footing  found,  for  all  the  flood ; 

So  when  good  souls,  departed  through  death's  door, 
Come  not  again,  it  shows  their  dwelling  good.. .42 

'  As  o'er  the  deep 

The  lone  birds  sweep, 
And  on  its  white  foam  dwell. 

O'er  life's  dark  sea, 

On,  on  ye  flee  — 
Loved  ones,  farewell  —  farewell! 

The  lonely  heart 

Must  widely  part 
From  those  it  loves  so  well, 

But  Mem'ry's  gleam 

Shall  light  life's  dream — 
Dear  friends,  farewell  —  farewell ! 

And  in  yon  skies, 

Where  ne'er  shall  rise 
The  fearful  parting  knell, 

Life's  fever  past. 

We  '11  meet  at  last — 
Sisters,  farewell— farewell !' 

E  E  M  E  M  B  E  E  , 

That  though  the  realm  of  Death  seems  an 
enemy's  country  to  most  men,  on  whose  shores 
they  are  loathly  driven  by  stress  of  weather ;  to 
the  wise  man  it  is  the  desired  port  where  he  moors 
his  bark  gladly,  as  in  some  quiet  haven  of  the 
Fortunate  Isles  ;  it  is  the  golden  west  into  which 


78 

A  N  G  E  L-V  DICES. 

 s 

I  said,  in  the  cutting'  off  of  my  days, 

his  sun  sinks,  and  sinking,  casts  back  a  glory  upon 
the  leaden  cloud-rack  which  had  darkly  besieged 
his  day.^ 

The  death-bed  of  the  just  — 
Angels  should  paint  it,  —  Angels  ever  there! 
There  on  a  post  of  honor  and  of  joy... 35 

R  E  M  E  BI  B  E  R  , 

The  body  is  a  more  expert  dialectician  than  the 
soul,  and  buffets  it,  even  to  bewilderment,  with  the 
empty  bladders  of  logic  ;  but  the  soul  can  retire 
from  the  dust  and  turmoil  of  such  conflict,  to  the 
high  tower  of  instinctive  faith,  and  there,  in  hushed 
serenity,  take  comfort  of  the  sympathizing  stars. 
We  look  at  death  through  the  cheap  glazed  win- 
dows of  the  flesh,  and  believe  him  for  the  monster 
which  the  flawed  and  crooked  glass  presents  him.^ 

'  Choice  befits  not  our  condition  — 
Acquiescence  is  the  best.' 

Remember, 

Before  us  stands  the  Future,  a  shadow  robed  in 
vapor,  with  a  far  off  sunlight  shining  through.  The 
Present  is  around  us  —  passing  away  —  passing 
away.  And  we  ?  O,  fearful  indeed  is  this  earth's 
pilgrimage,  when  the  soul  has  learned  that  all  its 
sounds  are  echoes,  all  its  sights  are  shadows  !  — 
But,  lo  !  the  clouds  open,  and  a  face  serene  and 
hopeful  looks  forth  and  says.  Be  thou  as  a  little 
child,  and  thus  shalt  thou  become  a  seraph.  The 
#  •# 


ANGEL-VOICES.  79 

I  shall  go  to  the  jates  of  the  grave  ; 

shadows  which  perplex  thee  are  all  realities  —  the 
echoes  are  all  from  the  Eternal  Voice  which  gave 
to  light  its  being.  All  the  changes  around  thee 
are  but  images  of  the  Infinite  and  the  True,  seen 
in  the  mirror  of  Time,  as  they  pass  by,  each  on  a 
heavenly  mission.^ 

 As  the  tree 

Stands  in  the  sun,  and  shadows  all  beneath, 
So,  in  the  light  of  great  Eternity, 
Life  eminent  creates  the  shade  of  death; 
The  shadow  passeth  when  the  tree  shall  fall. 
But  life  shall  reign  forever  over  all... 86 

Remember, 

And  '  sorrow  not  as  those  who  have  no  hope.' 
It  is  good  for  us  at  times  to  be  sad,  to  be  serious ; 
to  meditate  profoundly,  to  send  our  thoughts  earn- 
estly forward  to  another  world ;  to  hush  the  sound 
of  mirth  and  shade  the  splendors  of  life,  and  hold 
meek  and  reverential  communion  with  Him  who 
presideth  over  all.  Those  wish  not  wisely  who 
desire  life  to  be  like  one  strain  of  music,  or  the 
sparkle  of  a  summer's  wave.  Suffering  often  calls 
forth  our  best  feelings,  and  the  highest  energies  of 
the  mind.  It  exalts  and  purifies.  It  awakens  a 
true  spirit,  and  naturally  leads  us  nearer  to  heaven. 
As  the  shadow  of  Peter  is  said  to  have  given  life 
to  those  upon  whom  it  rested,  so  often  will  sorrow 
give  higher  life  to  the  soul.^^ 

He  that  lacks  time  to  mourn,  lacks  time  to  mend : 
Etcriity  mourns  that.    'T  is  an  ill  cure 


^ — 
so 


A  N  G  E  L-V  DICES. 


I  am  deprived  of  the  residue  of  my  years. 


For  lifj's  worst  ills,  to  have  no  time  to  feel  them. 
Where  sorrow  is  held  intrusive,  and  turned  out, 
There  wisdom  will  not  enter,  nor  true  power. 
Nor  aught  that  dignifies  humanity. ..50 

E  E  M  E  M  B  E  R  , 

Life  is  short.  '  Man  has  two  minutes  and  a 
half  to  live  —  one  to  smile,  one  to  sigh,  and  a 
half  to  love  —  for  in  the  middle  of  this  he  dies  ! 
But  the  grave  is  not  deep  —  it  is  the  shining  tread 
of  an  Angel  that  seeks  us.  When  the  unknown 
hand  throws  the  fatal  dart  at  the  end  of  man,  then 
boweth  he  his  head,  and  the  dart  only  lifts  the 
crown  of  thorns  from  his  wounds.^* 

 the  time  of  life  is  short ; 

To  spend  that  shortness  basely  were  too  long. 
If  Life  did  ride  upon  a  dial's  point, 
Still  ending  at  the  arrival  of  an  hour...fiO 

Eemebiber, 

The  record  of  life  runs  thus:  Man  creeps  into 
childhood  —  bounds  into  youth  —  sobers  into  man- 
hood —  softens  into  age  —  totters  into  second  child- 
hood, and  slumbers  into  the  cradle  prepared  for 
him^° — thence  to  be  watched  and  cared  for  by 
Angels,  until  awakened  into  that  new  and  spirit- 
life  where  he  shall  know  no  age  or  after  decay. 

A  dancing  shape,  an  image  gay, 
To  haunt,  to  startle,  and  waylay ; 
A  Being  breathing  thoughiful  breath, 
A  Traveller  between  life  and  death...? 

R  £  M  E  BI  B  E  R  , 

Although  the  loss  of  a  friend  often  afflicts  us 
less  by  the  momentary  shock  than  when  it  is 


A  


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


 ^ 

81 


no  more  with  llie  inhabitants  of  tlie  world. 


brought  back  to  our  minds  some  time  afterward, 
by  the  sight  of  some  object  associated  with  him  in 
the  meniory  —  of  something  which  reminds  us 
that  we  have  laughed  together,  or  shed  tears  to- 
gether ;  that  our  hearts  have  trembled  under  the 
same  breeze  of  gladness,  or  that  we  have  bowed 
our  heads  under  the  same  stroke  of  sorrow.  So 
may  one  behold  the  sun  sink  quietly  below  the 
horizon,  without  leaving  anything  to  betoken  that 
he  is  gone ;  while  the  sky  seems  to  stand  uncon- 
scious of  its  loss,  unless  its  chill  blueness  in  the 
east  be  interpreted  into  an  expression  of  dismay. 
But  anon,  rose-tinted  clouds  —  call  them  rather 
streaks  of  rosy  light  —  com.e  forward  in  the  west, 
as  it  were  to  announce  the  tiding  of  a  joyous 
resurrection.^^ 

Partaken  mercies  are  forgotten  things , 
But  Expectation  hath  a  grateful  heart, 
Hailing  the  smile  of  promise  from  afar. 
Enjoyment  dies  into  ingratitude. ..326 

Remember, 

The  shore  of  the  beautiful  spring  is  steep,  and 
we  swim  on  the  dead  sea  of  life  near  the  shore, 
but  we  the  ephemera  have  no  wings.  Death,  this 
sublime  evening-red  of  our  St.  Thomas'  day,  this 
great  amen  of  our  hope,  shouted  across  from  yon- 
der shore,  would  appear  before  our  low  couch,  like 
a  beautiful  crowned  giant,  and  lift  us  up  by  de- 


# — 
82 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  I  C  E  S  . 


Mine  age  is  departed,  and  is  removed  from  me  as  a  slaepherd's  tent ; 

grees  into  the  ether,  and  rock  us  there,  were  it  not 
we  are  broken  and  stupefied  ere  thrown  into  his 
o-io'antic  arms.  It  is  illness  alone  that  takes  from 
death  his  glory  ;  and  the  pinions  of  the  aspiring 
soul,  (laden  and  stained  with  blood,  tears,  and 
clumps  of  earth,)  trail  broken  on  the  ground.  But 
death  is  a  flight,  and  no  fall,  only  then  when  the 
hero  throws  himself  upon  one  single  fatal  wound, 
and  man  stands  like  a  spring- world  full  of  new 
blossoms  and  old  fruit,  and  the  earth  passes  by 
him  like  a  comet.^* 

'  So  may  we  live,  that  every  houi 
May  die  as  dies  the  natural  flower, 
A  self- reviving  thing  of  power; 
That  every  thought  and  every  deed 
May  hold  within  itself  the  seed 
Of  future  good  and  future  meed.' 

Remember, 

Joy,  most  of  all,  loves  to  see  Death  at  her  fes- 
tive board ;  for  he  is  himself  a  joy,  and  the  last 
rapture  of  earth.  Only  the  vulgar  can  confound 
the  heavenward  soaring  flight  of  humanity,  into 
the  far  land  of  the  spring,  with  the  mock  funeral 
phenomena  on  the  earth ;  in  the  same  manner  as 
they  take  the  hooting  of  owls,  on  their  departure 
for  warmer  climes,  for  the  rattling  of  ghosts.^^ 

Seraphs  on  earth  pant  for  their  native  skies, 
And  nature  feels  it  painful  not  to  rise. ..90 

Remember, 

If  the  hidden  Infinite  One,  who  is  encompassed 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


83 


I  have  cut  off  like  a  -fteaver  my  life  j 


by  gleaming  abysses  without  bounds,  and  who 
himself  creates  the  bounds,  were  now  to  lay  im- 
mensity open  to  thy  view,  and  to  reveal  himself  to 
thee  in  the  distribution  of  the  suns,  the  lofty  spirit, 
the  little  human  hearts,  and  our  days  and  some 
tears  therein,  —  wouldst  thou  rise  up  out  of  thy 
dust  against  Him,  and  say,  '  Almighty !  be  other 
than  thou  art ! ' 

But  be  one  sorrow  alone  forgiven  thee,  or  made 
good  to  thee  —  the  sorrow  for  thy  dead  ones  ;  for 
this  sweet  sorrow  for  the  lost  is  itself  but  another 
form  of  consolation.  When  the  heart  is  full  of 
longing  for  them,  it  is  but  another  mode  of  con- 
tinuing to  love  them ;  and  we  shed  tears  as  well 
when  we  think  of  their  departure,  as  when  we 
picture  to  ourselves  our  joyful  reunion  —  and  the 
tears,  methinks,  differ  not.^^ 

When  in  anxious,  troubled  hours 
Our  grieved  hearts  almost  despond, 
When  subdued  by  sickness, 
Anguish  gnaws  upon  the  spirit, 
O.  then  it  is,  God  himself  stoops  down; 
His  love  approaches  near  to  us,  — 
Then  we  look  beyond  our  present  griefs, 
And  there  appears  His  angel  before  us ; 
Who  brings  the  cup  of  joyous  life, 
And  whispers  that  peace  and  comfort 
Which  his  children  ask  not  in  vain... a... 65 


Remember, 

There  is  healing  in  the  bitter  cup.  God  takes 
away,  or  removes  far  from  us,  those  we  love,  as 
hostages  of  our  faith,  (if  I  may  so  express  it;)  and 


t — 
84 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


I  did  mourn  as  a  dove  ; 


to  those  who  look  forward  to  a  reunion  in  another 
world,  where  there  will  be  no  separation,  and  no 
mutability,  except  that  which  arises  from  perpetual 
progressiveness,  the  evening  of  life  becomes  more 
delightful  than  the  morning,  and  the  sunset  offers 
brighter  and  lovelier  visions  than  those  which  we 
build  up  in  the  morning  clouds,  and  which  appear 
before  the  strength  of  the  day.  Faith  is  that 
precious  alchemy  which  transmutes  grief  into  joy; 
or  rather,  it  is  the  pure  and  heavenly  Euphrasy, 
which  clears  away  the  film  from  our  mortal  sight, 
and  makes  affliction  appear  what  it  really  is,  a 
dispensation  of  mercy .^^ 

Thou  art  not  lost,  —  thy  spirit  giveth 
Immortal  peace,  and  high  it  liveth  ! 
Thou  art  not  mute,  —  with  angels  blending, 
Thy  voice  to  me  is  still  descending! 

Thou  art  not  absent,  —  sweetly  smiling, 
I  see  thee  yet,  my  griefs  beguiling ! 
Soft  o'er  my  slumbers  art  thou  beaming. 
The  sunny  spirit  of  my  dreaming ! 

Thine  eyelids  seem  not  yet  concealing, 
In  death,  their  orbs  of  matchless  feeling ; 
Their  living  charms  my  heart  still  numbers ;  — 
Ah  !  sure  they  do  but  vail  thy  slumbers ! 

As  kind  thou  art ;  —  for  still  thou  'rt  meeting 
The  breast  which  gives  thee  tender  greeting ! 
And  shall  I  deem  thee  altered?  —  Never! 
Thou'rt  with  me  waking — dreaming  —  ever!. ..46 

Remember, 

Though  this  poor  instrument,  the  human  body, 
may  be  broken,  the  dial-plate  effaced,  and  though 
the  hidden  artist  can  make  no  more  signs,  he  may 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


 * 

85 


Mine  eyes  fail  with  looking-  upward  ; 


be  rich  as  ever  in  the  things  to  be  signified.  Fever 
may  fire  the  pulses  of  the  body ;  but  wisdom  and 
sanctity  cannot  sicken,  be  inflamed,  and  die.  This 
would  be  to  set  the  cross  above  the  crucified.^" 

'  O,  who  would  live  alway,  away  from  his  God, 
Away  from  yon  heaven,  that  blissful  abode, 
Where  the  rivers  of  pleasure  flow  o'er  the  bright  plains, 
And  the  noontide  of  glory  eternally  reigns?' 

Remember, 

Grief  is  only  the  memory  of  widowed  affection. 
The  more  intense  the  delight  in  the  presence  of 
the  object,  the  more  poignant  must  be  the  impres- 
sion of  the  absence.  .  .  .  These  associations  with 
the  past  do  not  excite  sorrow,  but  to  an  affectionate 
mind  are  sorrow.  The  morality,  then,  which  re- 
bukes sorrow  rebukes  love.  There  are  doubtless 
cases  not  infrequent,  in  which  the  mind  is  unduly 
overpowered  by  affliction,  in  which  the  tranquillity 
of  the  reason  is  wholly  overset,  and  the  energy  of 
the  will  utterly  prostrated.  Here,  beyond  contro- 
versy, is  a  state  of  mind  morally  wrong :  for  God 
never  absolves  us  from  our  duties,  however  he  may 
sadden  them.  But  to  rebuke  the  feelings  of  grief 
in  such  a  case,  is  to  cast  the  censure  in  the  wrong 
place ;  it  is  not  that  the  sorrow  is  excessive,  but 
that  other  emotions  are  defective  in  their  strength. 

The  wise  interpreter  of  his  own  nature  will  let 
his  mourning  affections  alone.    To  interfere  with 


f — 
86 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


O  Lord,  I  am  oppressed  ;  undertake  for  me. 

them  would  be  to  wrestle  with  his  own  strength. 
But  he  will  draw  forth  into  prominent  light,  senti- 
ments now  sleeping  idly  in  the  shaded  recesses  of 
his  mind.  He  will  summon  up  the  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility, to  rouse  him  with  the  spectacle  of  his 
relations  to  God,  his  father,  and  his  brother,  man  ; 
to  recount  to  him  the  deeds  of  duty  and  the  toils 
of  thought  which  are  yet  to  be  achieved  ere  life 
is  done ;  to  show  him  the  circle  of  high  faculties 
v/hich  the  Creator  has  given  him  to  ennoble  and 
refine  and  keep  ready  for  a  world  where  thought 
and  virtue  are  immortalized.  He  will  call  forth 
his  affections  for  the  living  who  surround  him,  and 
whom  yet  it  is  happiness  to  love  and  his  obliga- 
tion to  bless ;  and  these  sympathies  will  be  fruitful 
work  for  his  hands,  and  interests  refreshing  to  his 
heart :  here  are  some  of  the  invitations  to  the 
aspirings  of  benevolence,  to  bid  the  drooping  soul 
look  up.  And  the  sufferer  will  evoke  the  spirit  of 
Christian  trust  and  hope.  Invoke  tfie  spirit  of  this 
trust ;  and  though  sorrow  may  not  dry  its  tears,  it 
rises  to  a  dignity  above  despair.^" 

Tears,  liquid  pearls,  O.  gently  flow  ! 

'T  will  ease  my  aching  breast, 
'Twill  cool  the  fever  of  my  brow, 

And  lull  my  soul  to  rest. 

O,  'tis  a  luxury  to  weep ! 

When  sore  oppre.ssed  the  soul, 
And  torn  with  anguish  wild  and  deep 

O'er  which  we 've  no  control. 

*  


4- —  

ANGEL-VOICES.  87 


What  shall  I  say  ? 


To  weep  o'er  gentle  friends  that  lie 

Pale,  in  Death's  cold  embrace, 
And  'mong  the  stars  that  gem  the  sky 

To  trace  their  dwelling-place. 

Then  for  a  luxury  of  a  tear 

O,  let  us  thank  thee,  Heaven  ! 
For  in  the  solace  of  a  tear 

A  precious  boon  is  given.. .b 

Remember, 

He  whose  mission  it  was  to  teach  the  paternity 
of  Providence  and  the  serenity  of  the  immortal 
hope,  —  he  who  himself  lived  in  the  divinest  peace 
which  they  can  give,  thought  it  no  treason  to  these 
truths  to  weep.  To  the  eye  of  the  Man  of  Sor- 
rows, sorrow  was  no  sin ;  nor  did  he,  who  was 
emphatically  the  Son  of  God,  see  in  even  the  pas- 
sionate utterance  of  grief  any  of  that  spirit  of  filial 
distrust  towards  God,  and  reluctant  acceptance  of 
his  will,  which  have  often  been  charged  on  it  by 
the  hard  and  cold  temper  of  his  followers,  who 
would  multiply  the  penances  of  natural  emotion, 
and  sublime  from  the  Gospel  its  pure  humanities.^'' 

Be  sure  that  God 
Ne'er  dooms  to  waste  the  strength  he  deigns  to  impart.. .75 

Remember, 

Heaven  and  God  are  best  discerned  through 
tears ;  scarcely  perhaps  are  discerned  at  all  with- 
out them.  The  constant  association  of  prayer 
with  the  hour  of  bereavement  and  the  scenes  of 
death,  suffice  to  show  this.  Yet  is  this  effect  of 
 * 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


He  hath  spoken  unto  me,  and  himself  hath  done  it: 


external  distress  only  a  particular  instance  of  this 
general  truth,  that  religion  springs  up  in  the  mind 
wherever  any  of  the  infinite  affections  and  desires 
press  severely  against  the  finite  conditions  of  our 
existence.  Instead  of  slumbering  at  noon  in  Eden, 
we  must  keep  the  midnight  watch  within  Geth- 
semane.  We,  too,  like  our  great  Leader,  must  be 
made  perfect  through  suffering ;  but  the  struggle 
by  night  will  bring  the  calmness  of  the  morning  ; 
the  hour  of  exceeding  sorrow  will  prepare  the  day 
of  godlike  strength ;  the  prayer  for  deliverance 
calls  down  the  power  of  endurance.  And  while 
to  the  reluctant  their  cross  is  too  heavy  to  be 
borne,  it  grows  light  to  the  heart  of  willing  trust.^'' 

In  the  hour  of  deep  affliction 

Let  no  impious  thought  intrude; 
Meekly  bow  with  this  conviction, 

Grief  was  sent  thee  for  thy  good...b 

R  E  M  E  BI  B  E  R  , 

From  our  mere  eyes  Death  takes  only  the 
visible  form  of  the  objects  of  our  love,  for  this 
is  only  borrowed;  from  our  souls  it  cannot  take 
the  love  itself  to  which  that  is  subservient,  for  it 
is  given  us  forever.  The  very  grief  that  wastes 
us  testifies  that,  in  his  true  worth,  the  companion 
we  lament  as  lost  is  with  us  still ;  for  is  it  not  the 
idea  of  him  that  weeps  in  us  —  his  image  that 
supplies  the  tears  ?    His  best  offices  he  will  con- 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S  . 


 1 

89 


ihe  bitterness  of 


tinue  to  us  yet,  if  we  are  true  to  liim ;  with 
serenest  look,  as  through  the  windows  of  the  soul, 
rebuking  our  disquiet,  bracing  our  faith,  quicken- 
ing our  conscience,  and  cooling  the  fever-heats  of 
life.  Doubtless  the  thought  of  him  is  transmuted 
from  gladness  into  sorrow.  But  \yill  any  true 
heart  say,  that  an  affection  is  an  evil  because  it  is 
sad,  and  wish  to  shake  it  off  the  moment  it  brings 
pain  ?  Call  it  what  you  will,  that  is  not  love  which 
itself  is  anxious  to  grow  cold :  the  em.otions  of  a 
faithful  soul  never  entertain  a  suicidal  purpose, 
and  plan  their  own  extinction ;  rather  do  they 
reproach  their  own  insensibility,  and  passionately 
pray  for  a  greater  vitalit}\  Whether,  then,  in 
anxiety  or  in  peace,  in  joy  or  in  regrets,  let  the 
spirit  of  affection  stay;  and  if  the  spirit  stay,  the 
objects,  though  vanished,  leave  their  best  presence 
with  us  still.  Thus  the  sainted  dead  shall  finish 
for  us  the  blessed  work  which  they  began.  They 
tarried  with  us,  and  nurtured  a  hmnan  love  ;  they 
depart  from  us,  and  kindle  a  divine.^° 

 Death  is  the  crown  of  life. 

Were  death  denied,  poor  man  ^Yould  live  in  vain ; 
Were  death  denied,  to  live  would  not  be  life  ; 
Were  death  denied,  even  fools  would  wish  to  die. 
Death  wounds  to  cure  :  we  fall,  we  rise,  we  reign, 
Spring  from  our  fetters,  fasten  in  the  skies. 
This  King  of  Terrors  is  the  Prince  of  Peace. 
When  shall  I  die  to  vanity,  pain,  death? 
When  shall  I  die  ?    When  shall  I  live  forever  1...35 


>  

90 

ANGEL-VOICES. 

O  Lord,  by  these  thing:s  men  live. 

Remember, 

In  the  mere  conception  of  unlimited  existence 
there  is  nothing  more  amazing  than  in  that  of 
unlimited  non-existence ;  there  is  no  more  mystery 
in  the  mind  living  forever  in  the  future,  than  in  its 
having  been  kept  out  of  life  through  an  eternity 
in  the  past.  The  former  is  a  negative,  the  latter 
a  positive  infinitude.  And  the  real,  the  authentic 
wonder,  is  the  actual  fact  of  the  transition  having 
been  made  from  the  one  to  the  other ;  and  it  is 
far  more  incredible  that,  from  not  having  been,  we 
are^  than  that,  from  actual  being,  we  shall  continue 
to  be.^' 

O.  what  is  death  ?    'T  is  life's  lost  shore, 
Where  vanities  are  vain  no  more  ; 
Where  all  pursuits  their  goal  obtain, 
And  life  is  all  retouched  again. 

Remember, 

God  would  not  make  this  world  a  paradise, 
because  he  had  prepared  a  far  better  home  for  his 
children;  and  'link  by  link  he  rends  away'  the 
golden  chains  which  bind  the  soul  to  earth,  that 
he  may  use  them  to  fasten  it  more  securely  above. 
It  should  not  be  said,  my  friend,  that  the  frequent 
removal  by  distance  or  death  of  those  who  are  dear 
to  us  is  a  proof  that  they  ought  not  to  have  been 
so  highly  prized,  and  that  we  are  called  upon  to 
dismiss  them  from  our  hearts  —  O,  no  ! 

4  4> 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  I  C  E  S  . 


 4 

91 


And  in  all  these  things  is  the  life  of  my  spirit : 

'  Our  best  aifections  here, 
They  are  not  like  the  toys  of  infancy, 
The  soul  outgrows  them  not,  — 
We  do  not  cast  them  off.' 

But,  on  the  contrary,  Christian  friendship  is  a 
foretaste  of  the  communion  of  saints  in  glory. 
There  it  will  be  perfected.  The  sweets  of  friend- 
ship are  among  the  grants  of  our  heavenly  char- 
ter ;  and  the  tenure  by  which  we  hold  them  shows 
the  loving-kindness  of  Him  who  has  ordered  the 
covenant  in  all  things.^^ 

Parted  friends  may  meet  again, 

When  the  storms  of  life  are  past; 
And  the  spirit,  freed  from  pain, 

Basks  in  friendship  that  will  last... 46 

Remember, 

Since  we  stay  not  here,  being  people  but  of  a 
day's  abode,  and  our  age  is  like  that  of  a  fly,  and 
contemporary  with  that  of  a  gourd,  we  must  look 
somewhere  else  for  an  abiding  city,  a  place  in 
another  country  to  fix  our  house  in,  whose  walls 
and  foundation  is  God,  where  we  must  rest  or  else 
be  restless  forever.  For  whatsoever  ease  we  can 
have  or  fancy  here,  will  shortly  be  changed  into 
sadness  or  tediousness.  It  goes  away  too  soon, 
like  the  periods  of  our  life ;  or  stays  too  long,  like 
the  sorrow  of  the  sinner.  And  where  either  there 
is  sorrow  or  an  end  of  joy,  there  can  be  no  true 
felicity ;  which,  because  it  must  be  had  by  some 




*  # 

92  ANGEL-VOICES. 


So  wilt  thou  recover  me,  and  mak-e  me  to  live. 


instrument,  and  in  some  period  of  our  durations, 
we  must  carry  up  our  affections  to  the  mansion 
prepared  for  us  above,  where  eternity  is  the  meas- 
ure, felicity  is  the  state,  angels  are  the  company, 
the  Lamb  is  the  light,  and  God  is  the  portion  and 
inheritance.^® 

Friend  after  friend  departs ! 

Who  hath  not  lost  a  friend? 
There  is  no  union  here  of  hearts, 

That  finds  not  here  an  end  ! 
Were  this  frail  world  our  final  rest, 
Living  or  dying,  none  were  blest. 

Beyond  the  flight  of  time, 

Beyond  the  reign  of  death, 
There  surely  is  some  blessed  clime, 

Where  life  is  not  a  breath ; 
Nor  life's  affections  transient  fire, 
Whose  sparks  fly  upward  and  expire. 

Thus  star  by  star  declines, 

Till  all  are  passed  away ; 
As  morning  high  and  higher  shines 

To  pure  and  perfect  day ; 
Nor  sink  those  stars  in  empty  night, 
But  !-ide  themselves  in  heaven's  own  light.. .57 

R  E  BI  E  M  B  E  R  , 

That  though  we  are  oft  perplexed  with  the  tan- 
gled web  of  this  life,  in  the  heavenly  all  knots 
shall  be  untied,  all  mysteries  unveiled ;  the  just 
connection  of  the  least  link  in  the  chain  of  Provi- 
dence will  be  easily  seen  in  that  land  of  vision, 
where  all  is  clear,  yet  all  amazing ;  and  the  une- 
qual reflections  made  here,  as  if  Divine  Wisdom 
were  careless,  or  baffled,  will  be  turned  into  ad- 
miring acknowledgments  of  that  care  and  goodness 


4r 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


 * 

93 


For  the  ^rave  cannot  praiso  thee,  death  cannot  celebrate  thee. 


which  runs  through  all  the  windings  of  Provi- 
dence. One  heaven  shall  then  be  the  proper 
country  of  all  its  inhabitants,  and  its  language 
equally  understood  by  all,  though  redeemed  from 
all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues, 
"We  shall  enjoy  the  society  of  prophets,  apostles, 
and  martyrs,  with  the  blessed  choir  of  ministering 
spirits,  who  have  done  us,  while  we  were  in  danger 
here,  many  an  invisible  courtesy,  which  we  could 
never  thank  them  for ;  and  our  Christian  friends 
and  relations — all  crowned  with  an  everlasting 
diadem  of  bliss.  There,  triumphant  souls  shall 
see,  admire,  and  celebrate  that  infinite  wisdom  and 
goodness  in  the  very  things  they  were  too  apt  to 
complain  of  here,  and  shall  own  how  necessary 
they  were  for  bringing  them  tliere}^ 


'  Not  what  I  will,  but  what  Thou  wiU.'    Mark  xvi.  36, 

*  Not  what  I  will,  my  Father,'  be  my  prayer, 
Whate'er  my  lot  in  life,  —  in  weal  or  woe, 
'  Thy  will,  not  mine,  in  all  things  here  below ;' 
When  all  seems  bright,  and  heaven  is  smiling  fair, 
And  my  heart  feels  no  weight  of  grief  or  care, 
Then 't  is  Thy  will,  my  Father,  makes  me  blest, 
And  I  with  grateful  heart  to  Thee  repair. 
To  thank  Thee  for  the  hours  of  peace  and  rest  : 
And  when  dark  clouds  o'ershadow  my  bright  sky, 
And  anguish  wrings  my  soul  —  O,  then,  my  heart, 
From  thy  firm  trust  in  God  do  not  depart ! 
'  Not  what  I  loill,  my  Father, '  be  my  cry. 
Thou  knowest  best,  let  me  Thy  Love  descry ; 
'T  is  the  same  hand,  dispensing  good  or  ill ; 
All  good,  though  seeming  ill  to  mortal  eye. 
This  wish  alone  my  inmost  being  fill — 
Juat  as  Thou  wilt,  my  Father,  be  my  will... 45 


*  — — * 

94  ANGEL-VOICES. 

The  living-,  the  living-,  he  shall  praise  thee,  as  I  do  this  day. 

Re  BI  EMBER, 

It  is  when  death  and  darkness  come,  men  learn, 
if  not  before,  what  their  nature  is ;  to  what  it  is 
exposed,  and  by  what  sustained ;  what  it  needs 
and  craves.  The  future  and  eternity  are  made 
sure.  They  are  brought  close  around  them.  They 
have  an  interest  there  now,  they  have  treasure  there. 
A  part  of  themselves  is  there.  The  parent  who 
gave  them  being,  the  brother  or  sister  who  shared 
that  being,  the  child  who  was  all  their  own  —  is 
there  —  and  they  are  there  also.  Their  nature,  all 
their  affections,  were  reposed  in  those  objects,  and 
you  cannot,  no  power  can  change  ;  death,  worlds, 
cannot  sever  them  wholly.  Their  very  removal 
to  an  unknown  state  makes  that  state  known. 
Their  flight  into  the  distant  and  dark  future 
illumes  that  future.  The  angel  of  death,  who 
bore  the  loved  away,  opened  the  heavens  as  he 
ascended  —  and  now  the  eye  of  faith  penetrates, 
the  heart  of  faith  lives,  in  that  spiritual  world. 
There  is  sorrow  and  trembling  yet.  But  there  is 
hope,  the  anchor  of  the  soul.  There  is  faith,  the 
very  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence 
of  things  not  seen.  There  is  prayer  and  com- 
munion, the  soul's  pinions  on  which  it  soars  to  the 
bright  presence  of  the  spirits  it  here  loved,  the 




A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 

—  -c 

95 

The  father  to  the  children  shall  make  known  thy  truth. 

Saviour  whom  it  trusts,  the  Father  in  whom  it 
dwells.  From  the  region  and  shadow  of  death, 
light  is  sprung  up.  It  is  the  light  of  God's  coun- 
tenance, it  irradiates  the  features,  the  souls,  with 
which  we  have  been  long  familiar  —  with  which 
we  may  now  live  forever.^^ 

Is  not  the  dream  of  heaven  more  sweet, 

Bright  with  those  living  forms  of  love? 
Does  not  each  trial  that  we  meet 

Raise  our  rapt  spirits  more  above  ? 
Yes  ;  death,  that  pales  our  curdling  cheek, 

Tells  of  an  angel's  opening  bliss  ; 
Again  we  view  the  forms  we  seek, 
Bright  with  immortal  happiness... 48 

 Joyful  words — '  We  meet  again  !' 

Love's  own  language,  comfort  darting 
Through  the  souls  of  friends  at  parting. 
Life  in  death  — '  we  meet  again!'.. .57 

E  E  M  E  M  B  E  R  , 

Although  we  are  accustomed  to  think  of  heaven 
as  distant,  of  this  we  have  no  proof.  Heaven  is 
the  union,  the  society,  of  spiritual,  higher  beings. 
May  not  these  fill  the  universe  ?   Milton  has  said, 

'  Millions  of  spiritual  beings  walk  the  earth, 
Both  when  we  wake  and  when  we  sleep.' 

A  new  sense,  a  new  eye,  might  show  the  spir- 
itual world  compassing  us  on  every  side.  Whilst 
we  know  not  to  what  place  our  friends  go,  we 
know  what  is  infinitely  more  interesting,  to  what 
beings  they  go.  We  know  not  where  heaven  is, 
but  we  know  whom  it  contains ;  and  this  knowl- 
edge opens  to  us  an  infinite  field  for  contemplation 
and  delight.    They  who  are  born  into  heaven  go 

#  '-  4 


96  A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES 


The  Lord  was  ready  to  save  me 


not  only  to  Jesus,  and  an  innumerable  company 
of  pure  beings ;  they  go  to  God.  These  new 
relations  of  the  ascended  spirit  to  the  Universal 
Father,  how  near  !  how  tender !  how  strong !  how 
exalting !  But  this  is  too  great  a  subject  for  the 
space  which  remains ;  and  yet  is  it  the  chief  ele- 
ment of  the  felicity  of  heaven.®^ 
Remember, 

Finally,  and  let  it  be  established  as  a  first  truth, 
if  religion  is  to  comfort  us  in  affliction ;  if  she  is 
to  give  us  aid  in  any  time  of  peril,  she  must  have 
had  long  and  supreme  command  over  our  hearts. 
She  must  be  infused  into  the  very  essence  of  the 
mind.  Our  fashion  of  thought  and  feeling  must 
be  formed  by  it,  and  our  whole  nature  sublimated 
by  its  union  with  our  best  sensibilities ;  she  must 
be  at  home  in  our  bosoms,  and  then  she  diffuses 
a'  virtue  through  our  whole  being.  The  blows 
of  affliction,  fall  as  heavily  as  they  may,  will  only 
increase  the  animation  of  our  resistance  ;  they  can- 
not touch  so  much  as  the  hem  of  our  garments 
without  being  sanctified.  Then  her  consolation 
abounds.  We  may  weep,  and  our  whole  frames 
shake,  under  the  stroke  of  bereavement;  so  much 
must  be  pardoned  to  human  nature. 

Bui  all  our  tears  are  sanctified.    They  burst 

From  our  o'erchar^ed  hearts  like  blessed  showers. 

Which  leave  the  skies  they  come  from  bright  and  holy... 48 


ANGE  L-VOICE  S. 


9i 


Therefore  we  will  sing  my  songs  to  the  stringed  instruments, 


Is  it  well  with  the  child  ?   And  she  answered,  It  is  well.'  Scripture. 


One  little  bud  adorned  my  bower, 

And  shed  sweet  fragrance  round ; 
It  grew  in  beauty,  hour  by  hour, 
Till,  ah !  the  spoiler  came  in  power, 
And  crushed  it  to  the  ground. 

Yet  not  forever  in  the  dust 

That  beauteous  bud  shall  lie ; 
No !  —  in  the  garden  of  the  just, 
Beneath  God's  glorious  eye,  I  trust, 
'T  will  bloom  again  on  high..,b 


1  rocked  her  in  the  cradle, 
And  laid  her  in  the  tomb.   She  was  the  youngest. 
What  fireside  circle  hath  not  felt  the  charm 
Of  that  sweet  tie  ?   The  youngest  ne'er  grows  old. 
The  fond  endearments  of  our  earlier  days 
We  keep  alive  in  them ;  and  when  they  die, 
Our  youthful  joys  we  bury  with  them...b 


98  A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES 


All  the  days  of  our  life  in  the  house  of  the  Lord. 


Sister  and  friend,  why  starts  the  tear? 
That  kindred  minds,  no  longer  near, 
Perhaps  no  more  shall  mingle  here 

Together? 

Ere  bowed  beneath  affliction's  rod, 
The  peaceful  paths  of  life  we  trod, 
And  journeyed  to  the  house  of  God 

Together ! 

No  separate  \»^'sh  our  thoughts  employed, 
No  separate  care  our  bliss  alloyed ; 
Ever  we  sorrowed  or  enjoyed 

Together ! 

What  though  no  more  our  souls  prepare 
The  various  ills  of  life  to  bear, 
And  every  transient  joy  to  share 

Together ! — 

We  have  a  fairer  home  on  high.  — 
Dimly  its  bliss  we  here  descry,  — 
Where  we  shall  spend  eternity 

Together  I 

We  have  a  faithful  Friend  above, 
A  Father,  of  unchanging  Love, 
Though  parted,  we  that  love  shall  prove 
Together ! 

And  where  unbroken  friendship  reigns, 
Nor  of  divided  joy  complains, 
Shall  rise  our  sweet  angelic  strains 

Together !... 46 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  I  C  E  S  . 


 # 

99 


Jesus  answered  and  said, 


CONFERENCE  WITH  THE  READER. 


Reader  (as  querist).  And  with  all  comforting 
words  from  Heart's  treasury,  hast  not  one  to  help 
the  bruised  in  spirit,  who  mourn  death  of  their 
little  ones  ? 

Much.  Ay,  these  indeed  are  embalmed  in 
memory's  storehouse.  One  has  spoken  much,  all, 
for  you  in  a  few  simple  words  :  '  Suffer  little  chil- 
dren to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not;  of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'  What  better 
casket  —  what  better  treasurer  —  to  intrust  with 
our  jewels 

O,  it  is  hard  to  take  to  heart 
The  lesson  that  such  deaths  will  teach ; 
But  let  no  man  reject  it, 
For  it  is  one  that  all  must  learn, 
And  is  a  mighty,  universal  Truth, 
When  Death  strikes  down  the  innocent  and  young, 
For  every  fragile  form  from  which  he  lets 
Tlie  parting  spirit  free, 
A  hundred  virtues  rise, 
In  shapes  of  mercy,  charity,  and  love, 
To  walk  the  world  and  bless  it. 
Of  every  tear 
That  sorrowing  mortals  shed  on  such  green  graves. 
Some  good  is  born,  some  gentler  nature  comes... 89 

Kemember, 

This,  (for  we  venture  this  domain  hesitatingly,) 
Around  our  children  concentre  our  prayers ;  in 
their  death  they  are  borne  to  heaven  with  them. 
In  the  griefs  and  sorrowing  we  have  for  them,  have 


100  ANGEL-VOICES. 

Go  and  show  John  these  things  which  ye  do  hear  and  see  : 

we  answered  prayer.  For  where  our  treasure  is, 
there  is  our  heart  also,  — 

'  loved  in  life, 

In  death  not  divided.' 

So  that,  as  we  distance  earth,  thus  we  near  heaven. 

Little  children  are  lent  of  God  the  heavenly- 
Parent,  to  take  the  impress,  to  be  incarnate  of  the 
earthly,  and  then  by  the  gentle  hand  of  Death  are 
removed,  living  images,  to  adorn  the  heavenly 
mansion.  The  Father  of  fathers  loves  too  to  look 
upon  the  innocent  faces  of  his  children,  and  would 
have  the  images  of  his  other  children,  thus  in  them 
represented,  always  near  Him  until  the  day  of  their 
earthly  pilgrimage  (also  as  did  that  of  their  little 
ones)  closes  in  the  night  of  sleep ;  and  Death,  the 
angel  of  sleep,  God's  best  ministering  angel  to  man, 
shall  come  and  wrap  them  in  his  mantle,  and  thus 
prepare  them  for  the  final  journey  after  their  pro- 
tracted six  days'  labor,  bearing  them  forth  to  the 
enduring  day  of  rest,  the  soul's  Sabbath,  where 
they,  in  company  with  the  redeemed  of  earth,  shall 
ever  behold  the  face  of  that  Father,  whose  coun- 
tenance beams  with  light  ineffable,  for  '  He  is  the 
fulness  of  light."" 

A  little  while,  a  few  short  years  of  pain, 
And  one  by  one  we  '11  come  to  thee  again...  13 

Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me  where 
I  am...MESSiAS. 


J 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


The  blind  receive  their  sight, 

Remember, 

And  grieve  not  with  sorrow  pertaining  to  earth 
for  departure  of  children ;  but  count  thy  gain  in 
that  to  thee  they  were,  while  to  others  they  have 
been  withheld.  Ay,  these  latter  may  not  sorrow 
even,  but  be  comforted  in  that  God  has  placed 
children  around  them  everywhere ;  but  if  grieve 
they  will,  let  it  be  with  godly  sorrow,  that  the 
heart  opens  not  to  receive  such  into  it,  even  as  the 
nearest  and  dearest." 

'  Blest  who  in  the  cradle  die ! 
Nought  they  knew  —  O,  envied  bliss !  — 
Save  a  mother's  soothing  smile, 
Save  a  mother's  tender  kiss,' 

Remember, 

For  it  is  noteworthy,  that  children  who  are 
taken  away  by  death  always  remain  in  the  mem- 
ory of  the  parent  as  children.  Other  children  grow 
old ;  but  this  one  continues  in  youth.  It  looks  as 
we  last  saw  it  in  health.  The  imagination  hears 
its  sweet  voice  and  light  step ;  sees  its  silken  hair 
and  clear  bright  eyes,  all  just  as  they  were.  Ten 
and  twenty  years  may  go  by ;  the  child  remains  in 
the  memory,  as  at  first  —  a  bright,  happy  child.  .  . 
Its  young  and  beautiful  form  moves  before  us :  and 
what  is  such  a  memory  but  an  angel-presence  ? 
Certainly  next  to  seeing  an  angel,  is  seeing  with  a 
parent's  heart  such  a  cherished  form.  Amidst 


102  A  N  G  E  L-V  DICES. 

And  the  lame  walk, 

this  world  of  ambition  and  show,  who  shall  say- 
that  this  is  not  a  means,  under  Providence,  of  sub- 
duing and  spiritualizing  the  mind  ?  .  .  .  .  Thus, 
in  order  to  cherish  such  a  remembrance,  we  are 
at  times  willing  to  turn  even  from  the  charms  of 
the  living.  The  sigh  becomes  sweeter  than  the 
song.  Sorrow,  subdued,  becomes  a  friend,  and 
sacred  joy  is  mingled  with  the  tears  of  holy  recol- 
lection Thus,  as  Grief  ascends  the  mount 

of  Time,  she  seems  to  pass  through  a  state  of 
transfiguration.  The  convulsive  agony  changes 
to  passive  sorrow,  and  querulous  misgivings  to 
quiet  meditation.  There  must  be  distress;  let, 
then,  the  gushing  tears  flow,  for  it  is  the  course  of 
nature ;  but,  even  with  this,  let  there  be  the  victory 
of  the  Christian  faith,  the  glorious  hope  of  our 
holy  religion.^^  For 

'  Such  a  hope,  like  the  rainbow,  a  being  of  light, 
May  be  born,  like  the  rainbow,  in  tears.' 

Remember, 

To  whom  the  sacrifice  is  made,  if  led  to  feel, 

'  A  flower,  when  offered  in  the  bud, 
Is  no  mean  sacrifice.' 

And  then  will  that  faith  which  centres  in  a 
being  of  love  assure  us  that  the  cut-off  buds  of 
earth  will  find  some  stem  on  which  the  husband- 
man will  engraft  them ;  these  flowers,  which,  like 
some  others,  fold  themselves  to  sleep  in  the  morn- 


ANGEL-VOICES.  103 

The  lepers  are  cleansed, 

ing  hour,  will  find  a  morning  sun  to  awaken  them. 
There  aloft,  in  the  heavens,  the  fogs  of  our  days 
must  one  day  be  resolved  into  stars,  even  as  the 
mist  of  the  milky  way  parts  into  suns.^^ 
Remember, 

There  is  this  pleasure  in  being  bereaved,  —  the 
thought  that  time,  which  sadly  overcometh  all 
things,  can  alone  restore  the  separated,  and  bring 
the  mutually  beloved  together.  Time,  which  plants 
the  furrow  and  sows  the  seed  of  death,  stands,  to 
the  faithful  spirit,  a  messenger  of  light  at  that 
mysterious  wicket-gate  from  whence  we  step  and 
enter  upon  the  vast  Unknown.  Compare  with 
this  enlarged,  this  universe-embracing  view,  which 
breaks  at  once  upon  the  soul,  the  act  of  lying 
down  in  what  to  some  may  seem  a  sleep  of  cold 
obstruction;  and  where  is  the  resemblance  of  the 
one,  or  what  ear  hath  heard,  or  what  heart  con- 
ceived, of  the  infinitude  of  the  other.^^ 

'  He  whom  Fame  hath  applauded  high 
Hath  gained  a  grave !  —  halh  lived  lo  die !' 

Remember, 

And  grieve  not.  That  soul  that  much  endures, 
out  ever  to  God  looks  up  —  suffering  neither  the 
douds  or  storms  to  disturb  —  sees  its  own  image 
m  the  heavens  :  —  There  stands  the  rainbow,  which 
the  clouds  and  the  winds  affect  not,  as  they  fly  over 


104 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


And  the  deaf  hear, 

 ji  ;  

it,  but  it  reposes  in  the  sky  as  resplendent  morning 
dew  on  a  beautiful  day.^* 

»•  Thus,  gentle  reader,  would  we  have  it  with  thee, 
for  we  pray  not  that  sorrow  may  be  withheld,  but, 
in  parting  words  of  Richter's  Pauline,  '  may  there 
be  to  thee  no  more  clouds  than  is  necessary  for  a 
beautiful  evening  sky,  no  more  rain  than  is  neces- 
sary to  form  a  rainbow  in  the  moonbeams,  and 
eternal  dewdrops  on  that  new  and  perpetual  morn 
which  all  that  is  lovely  of  earth,  and  is  revealed 
of  heaven,  promises  to  those  who  pass  earth's  fiery 
trial,  and  thus  attain  to  purity  of  spirit.''' 

Joy  hath  its  ministers,  but  griefs  are  frauglit 
With  gentler  blessings.    Let  them  come,  in  soft 
And  tender  eloquence,  and  bear  aloft 
Your  faith  on  the  white  spirit-wings  of  prayer.. .b 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES.  105 


The  dead  are  raised  up, 


IN  REVIEW. 


Remember, 

These  gems  unstrung  in  this  our  record  '  Of 
Life,'  in  this  our  record  '  Of  Death.'  Let  them, 
speak  to  the  heart  as  does  the  wind-harp  in  soli- 
tude. They  are  here  placed  standing  alone,  utter- 
ing each  an  unlinked  Voice ;  yet  doubt  we  not 
they  will  find  a  key-note  in  some  heart  beating  in 
unison.'' 

'  Leaves  have  their  thne  to  fall, 
Aad  flowers  to  wither  at  the  north  wind's  breath, 

And  stars  to  set :  hut  all, 
Thou  h£Lst  all  seasons  for  thine  own,  O  Death  !' 

'  As  the  long  train 
Of  ages  glide  away,  the  sons  of  men,  — 
The  youth  in  life's  green  spring,  and  he  who  goes 
In  the  full  strength  of  years,  matron  and  maid, 
And  the  sweet  babe,  and  the  gray-headed  man,  — 
Shall  one  by  one  be  gathered  side  by  side. 
By  those  who  in  their  turn  shall  follow  them.' 


4 


106 


AN  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


And  the  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  to  them. 


IN  LIFE. 


OLD. 

By  the  wayside,  on  a  mossy  stone, 
Sat  a  hoary  pilgrim  sadly  musing; 

Oft  I  marked  him  silting  there  alone. 
All  the  landscape  like  a  page  perusing ; 
Poor,  unknown, — 

By  the  wayside,  on  a  mossy  stone. 

Buckled  knee  and  shoe,  and  broad-rimmed  hat, 
Coat  as  ancient  as  the  form  'twas  folding, 

Silver  buttons,  queue,  and  crimped  cravat, 
Oaken  staff  his  feel)le  hand  upholding, 
There  he  sat ! 

Buckled  knee  and  slioe,  and  broad- rimmed  hat. 

Seemed  it  pitiful  he  should  sit  there,  _ 
No  one  sympathizing,  no  one  heeding, 

None  to  love  him  for  his  thin  gray  hair, 
And  the  furrows  all  so  mutely  pleading, 
Age,  and  care : 

Seemed  it  pitiful  he  should  sit  there. 

It  was  summer,  and  we  went  to  school, 
Dapper  country  lads,  and  little  maidens. 

Taught  tbe  motto  of  the  '  Dunce's  stool,'  — 
Its  grave  import  still  my  fancy  ladens,  — 
'Here's  a  Fool!' 

It  was  summer,  and  we  went  to  school. 

When  the  stranger  seemed  to  mark  our  play. 
Some  of  us  were  joyous,  some  sad- hearted. 

I  remember  well  —  too  well  —  that  day,— 
Oft-times  the  tears  unbidden  started,  — 
Would  not  stay  ! 

When  the  stranger  seemed  to  mark  our  play. 

One  sweet  spirit  broke  the  silent  spell  — 
Ah  !  to  me  her  name  was  always  heaven  !  — 

She  besought  him  all  his  grief  to  tell, — 
(I  was  then  thirteen,  and  she  eleven,) 
Isabel ! 

One  sweet  spirit  broke  the  silent  spell. 


>  

A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 

107 

He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear. 

Angel !  said  he  sadly,  T  am  old ; 

Earthly  hope  no  longer  halh  a  morrow ; 
Yet,  why  sit  I  here  thou  shalt  be  told,  — 

Then  his  eye  betrayed  a  pearl  of  sorrow,  — 
Down  it  rolled ! 
Angel !  said  he  sadly,  I  am  old  ! 

I  have  tottered  liere  to  look  once  more 
On  the  pleasant  scene  where  I  delighted 

In  the  careless,  happy  days  of  yore, 
Ere  the  garden  of  my  heart  was  blighted 
To  the  core ! 

I  have  tottered  here  to  look  once  more ! 

All  the  picture  now  to  me  how  dear ! 

E'en  this  old  gray  rock  where  I  am  seated 
Is  a  jewel  worth  my  journey  here; 

Ah !  that  such  a  scene  must  be  completed 
With  a  tear! 
All  the  picture  now  to  me  how  dear ! 

Old  stone  school-house  —  it  is  still  the  same ! 

There 's  the  very  step  so  oft  I  mounted ; 
There 's  the  window  creaking  in  its  frame, 

And  the  notches  that  I  cut  and  counted 
For  the  game ! 
Old  stone  school-house —  it  is  still  the  same ! 

In  the  cottage  yonder  I  was  born ;  — 
Long  my  happy  home,  that  humble  dwelling; 

There 's  the  fields  of  clover,  wheat,  and  com, 
There  the  spring  with  limpid  nectar  swelling; 
Ah,  forlorn .' 

In  the  cottage  yonder  I  was  bom. 

Those  two  gateway  sycamores  you  see, 
Then  were  planted,  just  so  far  asunder, 

That  long  well-pole  from  the  path  to  free, 
And  the  wagon  to  pass  safely  under ;  — 
Ninety-three  ! 

Those  two  gateway  sycamores  you  see. 

There  '3  the  orchard  where  we  used  to  climb, 
When  my  mates  and  I  were  boys  together, 

Thinking  nothing  of  the  flight  of  time, 
Fearing  naught  but  work  and  rainy  weather; 
Past  its  prime  ! 

There  'a  the  orchard  where  we  used  to  climb. 

There  the  rude,  three-cornered,  chestnut  rails,  ^ 
Round  the  pasture  where  the  cows  were  grazing, 

Where,  so  sly,  I  used  to  watch  for  quails 

In  the  crops  of  buckwheat  we  were  raising, — 
Traps  and  trails,  — 

There  the  rude,  three-corned,  chestnut  rails. 


lOS 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  ICES. 


I  thank  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth, 


There  'a  the  mill  that  ground  our  yellow  grain ; 

Poad  and  river  still  serenely  flowing  ; 
Cot,  there  nestling  in  the  shaded  lane, 

Where  the  lily  of  my  heart  was  blowing, — 
Mary  Jane  ! 
There 's  the  mill  that  ground  our  yellow  grain  ! 
There 's  the  gate  on  which  I  used  to  swing, 

Brook,  and  bridge,  and  barn,  and  old  red  stable; 
But,  alas  !  no  more  the  morn  shall  bring 

That  dear  group  around  my  father's  table  — 
Taken  wing ! 
There 's  the  gate  on  which  I  used  to  swing. 
I  am  fleeing  —  all  I  loved  have  fled; 

Yon  green  meadow  was  our  place  for  playing ; 
That  old  tree  can  tell  of  sweet  things  said, 

When  round  it  Jane  and  I  were  straying:  — 
She  is  dead ! 
I  am  fleeing — all  I  loved  are  fled  ! 

.  Yon  white  spire  —  a  pencil  on  the  sky. 
Tracing  silently  life's  changeful  story  — 
So  familiar  with  my  dim  old  eye, 

Points  me  to  the  seven  that  are  now  in  glory 
There  on  high  — 
Yon  white  spire,  a  pencil  on  the  sky. 

Oft  the  aisle  of  that  old  church  we  trod. 
Guided  thither  by  an  angel  mother  ; 

Now  she  sleeps  beneath  its  sacred  sod  — 
Sire  and  sister,  and  my  little  brother  — 
Gone  to  God ; 

Oft  the  aisle  of  that  old  church  we  trod. 

There  my  Mary  blest  me  with  her  hand, 

When  our  souls  drank  in  the  nuptial  blessing, 

Ere  we  wandered  to  that  distant  land  — 
Now,  alas  !  her  gentle  bosom  pressing ;  — 
There  I  stand  — 

There  my  Mary  blest  me  with  her  hand. 

Angel,  said  he  sadly,  I  am  old; 

Early  life  no  longer  hath  a  morrow ;  — 
Now,  why  sit  I  here  thou  hast  been  told ;  — 

In  his  eye  another  pearl  of  sorrow,  — 
Down  it  rolled,  — 
Angel,  said  he  sadly,  I  am  old. 

By  the  wayside,  on  a  mossy  stone, 
Sat  the  hoary  pilgrim,  sadly  musing; 

Still  I  marked  him,  sitting  there  alone, 
All  the  landscape  like  a  page  perusing; 
Poor,  unknown. 

By  the  wayside,  on  a  mossy  stone  I...88 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES 


109 


Because  thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent, 


IN  DEATH. 


I  saw  an  aged  man  upon  his  bier, 
His  hair  was  thin  and  white,  and  on  his  brow 

A  record  of  the  cares  of  many  a  year ; 
Cares  that  were  ended  and  forgotten  now. 

And  there  was  sadness  round,  and  faces  bowed. 

And  women's  tears  fell  fast,  and  children  wailed  aloud ! 

Then  rose  another  hoary  man,  and  said. 
In  faltering  accents,  to  that  weeping  train, 

Why  mourn  ye  that  our  aged  friend  is  dead? 
Ye  are  not  sad  to  see  the  gathered  grain. 

Nor  when  their  mellow  fruit  the  orchards  cast, 

Nor  when  the  yellow  woods  shake  down  the  ripened  mast. 

Ye  sigh  not  when  the  sun,  his  course  fulfilled. 
His  glorious  course,  rejoicing  earth  and  sky. 

In  the  soft  evening,  when  the  winds  are  stilled, 
Sinks  where  his  islands  of  refreshment  lie, 

And  leaves  the  smile  of  his  departure,  spread 

O'er  the  warm-colored  heaven  and  ruddy  mountain  head. 

Why  weep  ye,  then,  for  him,  who,  having  run 
The  bound  of  man's  appointed  years,  at  last. 

Life's  blessings  all  enjoyed,  life's  labors  done. 
Serenely  to  his  final  rest  has  passed  ; 

While  the  soft  memory  of  his  virtues  yet 

Lingers  like  twilight  hues,  when  the  bright  sun  is  set. 

His  youth  was  innocent ;  his  riper  age 

Marked  with  some  acts  of  goodness,  every  day  ; 

And  watched  by  eyes  that  loved  him,  calm  and  sage, 
Faded  his  late  declining  years  away. 

Cheerful  he  gave  his  being  up,  and  went 

To  share  the  holy  rest  that  waits  a  life  well  spent. 

That  life  was  happy  ;  every  day  he  gave 
Thanks  for  the  fair  existence  that  was  his ; 

For  a  sick  fancy  made  him  not  her  slave. 
To  mock  him  with  her  phantom  miseries. 

No  chronic  tortures  racked  his  aged  limb. 

For  luxury  and  sloth  had  nourished  none  for  him. 

And  I  am  glad  that  he  has  lived  thus  long, 
And  glad  that  he  has  gone  to  his  reward, 

Nor  deem  that  kindly  Nature  did  him  wrong. 
Softly  to  disengage  the  vital  cord. 

When  his  weak  hand  grew  palsied,  and  his  eye 

Dark  with  the  mists  of  age,  it  was  his  time  to  die.. .85 




110 


AN  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


And  hast  revealed  them  unto  babes. 


® Iji?   JMat Tin* 


 Her  marble  brow 

Was  pure  as  though  some  angel-wing  had  passed, 
And  swept  all  tints  of  earthliness  away. 
She  faded  slowly,  softly  from  the  earth, 
And  died,  as  some  sweet  blossom  dies  away, 
Shedding  a  heavenly  mcense  to  the  last.. .44 

'  Is  this  her  home  ?' 
I  ask  in  earnest  tone ! 
All  that  make  home  are  here  — 
Husband  and  children  dear, 
And  kindred  hearts  which  ever  seem  to  be 
Full  of  kind  love  and  gentle  sympathy: 
But  desolate  they  stand, 
That  little  household  band : 
Most  mournful  is  the  crymg, 
And  sorrowful  the  sighing, 
I  hear  in  sad  replying 

Unto  my  earnest  tone, 
'  Is  this  her  home  V 
'  Is  this  her  home  ?' 
I  ask  in  earnest  tone ! 
The  new  laid  turf  is  green. 
And  the  sweet  flowers,  I  ween. 
Will  love  to  come  and  deck  the  lowly  bed, 
Where  in  calm  slumber  rests  that  youthful  head ; 
The  wild  bird's  song  is  here, 
The  sunshine  bright  and  clear: 
O,  peace !  —  she 's  sweetly  sleeping, 
While  we  the  watch  are  keeping ; 
Why  answer  still  with  weeping 
Unto  my  earnest  tone, 
'  Is  this  her  home  1' 
'Is  this  her  home?' 
I  ask  in  solemn  tone. 
Behold,  the  Lord  is  here ; 
The  Lamb  of  God  is  near, 
To  lead  her  into  pastures  ever  fair, 
Aesj  point  her  to  the  living  waters  there : 
See  !  robed  in  light  she  stands 
Amid  the  angel  bands, 
Her  hand  a  harp  is  stringing. 
Its  notes  through  heaven  are  ringing, 
O,  list !  —  the  song  she 's  singing, 
Most  joyful  is  the  tone, 
'Heaven  is  my  home.'.. .45 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


 <8 

111 


Even  so,  Father,  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight. 


I  have  a  son,  a  little  son,  a  boy  just  five  years  old, 

With  eyes  of  thoughtful  earnestness,  and  mind  of  gentle  mould;- 

They  tell  me  that  unusual  grace  in  all  his  ways  appears, 

Thai  my  boy  is  grave  and  wise  of  heart  beyond  his- childish  years. 

I  cannot  say  how  this  may  be,  I  know  his  face  is  fair, 

And  yet  his  chiefest  comeliness  is  his  sweet  and  serious  air; 

I  know  his  heart  is  kind  and  fond.  I  know  he  lovelh  me, 

But  ioveth  yet  his  mother  more  with  grateful  fervency; 

But  tliat  which  others  most  admire,  is  the  thought  that  fills  his  mind ; 

The  food  for  grave  enquiring  speech  he  everywhere  doth  find. 

Strange  questions  doth  he  ask  of  me  when  we  together  walk ; 

He  scarcely  thinks  as  children  think,  nor  talks  as  children  talk, 

Nor  cares  he  much  for  childish  sports,  dotes  not  on  bat  or  ball, 

But  looks  on  manhood's  works  and  ways,  and  aptly  mimics  all. 

His  little  heart  is  busy  still,  and  oftentimes  perplext 

With  thoughts  about  this  world  of  ours  and  thoughts  about  the  next. 

He  kneels  at  his  dear  mother's  knee,  she  teacheih  him  to  pray, 

And  strange,  and  sweet,  and  solemn,  then,  are  the  words  that  he  will  say. 

0  !  should  my  gentle  child  be  spared  to  manhood's  years,  like  me, 
A  holier  and  a  wiser  man,  I  trust  that  he  will  be  ; 

And  when  I  look  into  his  eyes,  and  stroke  his  thoughtful  brow, 

1  dare  not  think  what  I  should  feel,  were  I  to  lose  him  now. 


I  have  a  son,  a  second  son,  a  simple  child  of  three, 

I  '11  not  declare  how  bright  and  fair  his  little  features  be. 

How  silver-sweet  those  tones  of  his,  when  he  prattles  on  my  knee. 

I  do  not  think  his  light  blue  eye  is  like  his  brother's  keen. 

Nor  his  brow  so  fuU  of  childish  thought  as  his  has  ever  been ; 

But  his  little  heart 's  a  fountain  pure  of  kind  and  tender  feeling, 

And  his  every  look  is  a  gleam  of  light,  rich  depths  of  love  revealing. 

When  we  walk  out,  the  country  folks  who  pass  us  in  the  street 

AVill  shout  for  joy,  and  bless  my  boy,  he  looks  so  mild  and  sweet. 

A  playfellow  is  he  to  all,  and  yet  with  cheerful  tone 

Will  sing  his  little  song  of  love,  when  left  to  sport  alone. 

His  presence  is  like  sunshme  sent,  to  gladden  more  the  earth, 

To  comfort  us  in  all  our  griefs,  and  sweeten  all  our  mirth. 

Should  he  grow  up  to  riper  years,  God  grant  his  heart  may  prove 

As  sweet  a  home  for  heavenly  grace  as  now  for  earthly  love ; 

And  if  beside  his  grave,  the  "tears  our  aching  eyes  must  dim, 

God  comfort  us  for  all  the  love  that  we  shall  lose  in  Mm. 


I  have  a  son,  a  third  sweet  son.  his  age  I  cannot  tell. 

For  they  reckon  not  by  years  and  months,  where  he  has  gone  to  dwell. 


# — 

112 


A  N  G  E  L-V  0  ICES. 


Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden, 


To  US,  for  fourteen  anxious  months,  his  infant  smiles  were  given, 
And  then  he  bade  farewell  to  earth,  and  went  to  live  in  heaven. 
I  cannot  tell  what  form  is  his,  what  looks  he  weareth  now, 
Nor  guess  how  bright  a  glory  crowns  his  shining  seraph  brow. 
The  thoughts  that  fill  his  sinless  soul,  the  bliss  that  he  doth  feel, 
Are  numbered  with  the  secret  things  which  God  will  not  reveal. 
But  I  know,  for  God  hath  told  me  this,  that  he  is  now  at  rest, 
Where  other  blessed  infants  are,  on  their  Saviour's  loving  breast. 
Whate'er  befalls  his  brethren  twain,  his  bliss  can  never  cease, 
Their  lot  may  here  be  grief  and  fear,  but  his  is  certain  peace. 
It  maybe  that  the  tempter's  wiles  their  souls  from  bliss  may  sever. 
But,  if  our  own  poor  faith  fail  not,  he  must  be  ours  forever. 
When  we  think  of  what  our  darling  is,  and  what  we  still  must  be, 
When  we  muse  on  that  world's  perfect  bliss,  and  this  world's  misery, 
When  we  groan  beneath  this  load  of  sin,  and  feel  this  grief  and  pain, 
O,  we 'd  rather  lose  our  other  two,  than  have  hi7n  here  again.. .87 


THE  DEAD. 

•  Still  the  same,  no  charm  forgot, — 
Nothing  lost  that  Time  had  given.* 

Forget  not  the  Dead,  who  have  loved,  who  have  left  us, 
"Who  bend  o'er  us  now  from  their  bright  homes  above ; 

But  believe,  —  never  doubt,  —  that  the  God  who  bereft  ua 
Permits  them  to  mingle  with  friends  they  still  love. 

Repeat  their  fond  words,  all  their  noble  deeds  cherish, 
Speak  pleasantly  of  them  who  left  us  in  tears  ;  — 

Other  joys  may  be  lost,  but  their  names  should  not  perish 
While  time  bears  our  feet  through  the  valley  of  years. 

Dear  friends  of  our  youth !  can  we  cease  to  remember 
The  last  look  of  life,  and  the  low- whispered  prayer? 

O,  cold  be  our  hearts  as  the  ice  of  December, 
When  Love's  tablets  record  no  remembrances  there! 

Then  forget  not  the  Dead,  who  are  evermore  nigh  us, 
Still  Hoating  sometimes  to  our  dream-haunted  bed;  — 

In  the  loneliest  hour,  in  the  crowd,  they  are  by  us ; 
Forget  not  the  dead — O,  forget  not  the  dead!.. .94 





AN  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


113 


And  I  will  give  you  rest. 


TO  A  DYING  INFANT. 

Seep,  little  baby  !  sleep  ! 

Not  in  the  cradle  bed, 
Not  on  thy  mother's  breast 
Henceforth  shall  be  thy  rest, 

But  with  the  quiet  dead. 

I 've  seen  thee  in  thy  beauty, 
A  thing  all  health  and  glee, 

But  never  then  wert  thou 

So  beautiful  as  now, 

Darling !  thoii  seem'st  to  me. 

Mount  up,  immortal  essence ! 

Young  spirit,  haste,  depart ! 
And  is  this  death  ?   Dread  thing ! 
If  such  thy  visiting, 

How  beautiful  thou  art ! 

O,  I  could  gaze  forever 

Upon  that  waxen  face ! 

So  passionless  —  so  pure — 

The  little  shrine  was  sure 

An  angel's  dwelling-place. 

God  took  thee  in  his  mercy, 
A  lamb  untasked,  untried ; 

He  fought  the  fight  for  thee. 

And  won  the  victory, 

And  thou  art  sanctified ! 

I  look  around  and  see 

The  evil  ways  of  men ; 

And,  O  beloved  child ! 

I 'm  more  than  reconciled 
To  thy  departure  then. 

Now,  like  a  dewdrop  shrined 

Within  a  crystal  stone, 
Thou  'rt  safe  in  heaven,  my  dove  — 
Safe  with  the  Source  of  love. 
The  Everlasting  One.. .69 


^  

8 


114 


ANGE  L-VOICE  S. 


Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me ; 


DEATH  OF  AN  INFANT. 

'The  child  is  not  — and  1,  whither  shall  I  go? 

The  blessed  gales  of  spring  are  now  rejoicing, 

Earth  hails  with  joy  again  the  green-robed  queen, 
And  silvery  tones  the  gladsome  welcome  voicing, 

Fill  with  sweet  melody  the  wide-spread  scene. 
Before  me  gush  the  waters  clear  and  sparkling, 

The  icy  chains  of  winter  all  forgot; 
But  o'er  my  soul  a  heavy  cloud  hangs  darkling, 

A  cloud  of  grief  and  woe :  —  my  child  is  not. 

My  child  is  not — and,  sad  and  broken-hearted, 

I  tread  the  rooms  that  he  will  bless  no  more ; 
This  crib  I  see,  its  tenant  has  departed, 

No  toys  lie  scattered  on  the  nursery  floor. 
In  vain  I  listen  for  the  silver  singing 

Of  his  clear  voice  in  childhood's  blessed  mirth, 
No  joyous  echo  through  the  house  is  ringing, 

All,  all  is  silent  round  our  darkened  hearth. 

My  child  is  not  —  the  mandate  hath  been  spoken 

By  Him,  the  Almighty  One,  whose  '  ways  are  jtist;* 
The  cord  is  loosed,  the  golden  bowl  is  broken, 

'  Earth  unto  earth '  we 've  given,  '  and  dust  to  dust.* 
The  tiny  mound  in  yonder  graveyard  swelling, 

The  void  and  silent  place  around  our  hearth, 
Speak  to  my  heart,  in  hollow  accents  telling, 

'  The  one  ye  loved  has  passed  away  from  earth.' 

My  child  is  not  —  but  welcomed  by  his  Father, 

And  folded  in  his  blest  Redeemer's  arms. 
Though  storms  may  rise,  and  tempests  howl  and  gather. 

He  dwells  secure  from  all  earth's  dread  alarms. 
Through  the  high  domes  that  vault  that  glorious  far  l£ind, 

Ring  his  angelic  tones  in  praise  and  joy, 
'Midst  the  sweet  buds  that  twine  the  Saviour's  garland, 

With  Eden  beauty  smiles  my  cherished  boy. 

Then  shall  I  murmur  and  repine,  blest  Father, 

That  what  thou  gavest,  thou  hast  taken  away  ? 
With  chastened  heart  and  deep  submission  rather, 

'  Tky  will,  not  miiie  be  done,'  O,  let  me  say  ! 
And  let  me,  as  through  life's  dark  vale  I  wander, 

Think  of  the  treasure  that  to  God  I 've  given, 
Until  with  glowing  heart  and  love  yet  fonder, 

I  greet  my  darling  in  the  courts  of  heaven.. .32 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


115 


For  I  am  meek  and  lowly  of  heart, 


DEATH  OF  AN  INFANT. 


Well,  rest  ihee,  bright  one ;  we  may  not  deplore  thee ; 

Death  hath  no  terrors  for  such  as  thou. 
From  ills  to  come,  from  anguished  years — ah!  freely 

We  yield  thee  to  thy  God  who  calleth  now. 

We  would  not  that  bright  brow  were  marked  with  furrows, 
Which  Time's  dread  finger  sure  had  graven  there; 

We  would  not  that  pure  lip  had  writhed  with  sorrows. 
Which  all  earth's  tenants  soon  or  late  must  share. 

Ay,  rest  thee  !  yet  thy  mother's  heart  is  bleeding, 
To  think  that  form  so  chill  and  pulseless  now ; 

That  rich  dark  eye  its  purple  lid  is  veiling, 
And  the  bright  curls  are  still  upon  thy  brow. 

Oft  has  she  gazed  on  thee  in  thy  proud  beauty, 
Buoyant  and  gladsome  in  thy  childish  glee, 

But  ne'er  before  that  face  was  deemed  so  lovely, 
As  in  its  death-sleep  it  hath  seemed  to  be. 

And  yet  rest  on:  —  the  balmy  winds  are  breathing 

A  fragrant  requiem  o'er  thy  peaceful  bed. 
And  summer  flowers,  thy  humble  tombstone  wreathing, 

Their  hallowed  incense  o'er  thy  slumbers  shed. 

From  the  far  heaven  the  angel-stars  are  beaming 

In  holy  beauty  on  thy  lowly  rest, 
And  clustering  ivy-leaves  are  richly  streaming 

With  graceful  tendrils  o'er  the  sleeper's  breast. 

Sleep  on  —  sleep  on!   Ah,  it  were  vain  deploring, 
For  ihou  art  gone  where  dwelleth  nought  of  woe ; 

In  that  bright  realm  thy  pure  young  soul  is  soaring. 
All  scenes  of  sorrow  fading  far  below. 

Then  fare  thee  well ;  —  no  more  thy  mother's  bosom 
Shall  lull  those  blue- veined  eyelids  to  their  sleep ; 

Dtist  unto  dust!  —  we  may  not  slight  the  summons  — 
We  give  thee  back  to  earth  —  but  we  must  weep... 92 


^ — 
116 


A  N  G  E  L-VO  ICES. 


And  ye  shall  find  rest  to  your  souls. 


Finally,  eemember, 

It  was  not  by  retiring  into  himself,  but  by  going 
out  of  himself,  that  Christ  overcame  the  world  ; 
not  by  spiritual  pathology  and  self-torture,  but  by 
veritable  '  sufferings  '  that  he  '  became  perfect ; ' 
not  by  measuring  his  own  emotions,  but  by  ob- 
livion of  them  amid  a  crowd  of  toils,  a  succession 
of  fulfilled  resolves,  a  profuse  expenditure  of  life 
and  effort  having  others  for  their  object,  that  he 
rose  above  the  dignity  of  men,  and  ripened  the 
divinest  spirit  for  the  skies.^° 

Called  by  affliction  every  grace  to  prove, 
In  patience  perfect  and  complete  in  love. 
Over  death  victorious,  thus  a  Saviour's  might 
Is  seen  triumphant  with  the  saints  in  light.. .b 

The  dark  way,  that  he  trod, 
Leads  to  heaven ; 
And  whoever  obeys  his  counsel 
Comes  to  the  house  of  God.. .a.. .65 

Reader  —  Fare  thee  well ! 

As  much  good  stay  with  thee  as  go  with  me.. .50 

So  live,  that  when  thy  summons  comes  to  join 
The  innumerable  caravan,  that  moves 
To  that  mysterious  realm,  where  each  shall  take 
His  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of  death, 
Thou  go  not,  like  the  quarry-slave  at  night. 
Scourged  to  his  dungeon,  but  sustained  and  soothed 
By  an  unfaltering  trust,  approach  thy  grave, 
Like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams.  85 


END. 


ANG  E  L-VOICE  S. 


■  

117 


APPENDIX  OF  AUTHORS  AND  WORKS  QUOTED. 

The  Numbers  correspond  with  those  in  the  Text, 


a  Compiler, 

b  Unknown. 

1  '  Literary  Lionisni.' 

2  Bailey's  '  Festus.' 

3  Rahel. 

4  Mrs.  Jameson. 

5  James  R.  Lowell. 

6  Mrs.  L.  M.  Child. 

7  W.  Wordsworth. 

8  R.  W.  Emerson. 

9  Milton. 

10  Mrs.  Case. 

1 1  Barrow. 

12  Bishop  Hall. 

13  Chas.  Sprague. 

14  Henry  Kirk  White. 

15  Harriet  Martineau. 

16  Goethe  (Eckerman's). 

17  Coleridge. 

18  Charles  Lamb. 

19  Dr.  Parr. 

20  Henry  Giles. 

21  '  Christian  Examiner.' 

22  A.  C.  Coxe. 

23  Lord  Bacon. 

24  Plato. 

25  Wm.  Ware. 

26  Herder. 

27  Dugald  Stewart. 

28  R.  C.  Waterston. 

29  Cornelius  Matthews. 

30  Martin  Farquar  Tupper. 

31  A.  A.  Livermore. 

32  '  Portsmouth  Journal.' 

33  E.  H.  Chapin. 

34  Jean  Paul  Richter. 

35  Young's  Night  Thoughts. 

36  Thomas  Carlyle. 

37  Fenelon. 
33  Feltham. 

39  '  Economy  of  Life '  (A.  D.  1800). 

40  H.  W.  Longfellow. 

41  W.  Irving. 

42  Sir  John  Davies. 

43  Bernard  Barton. 

44  Mrs.  C.  A.  Chamberlain. 

45  Miss  C.  E.  Roberts. 

46  '  Parting  Gift.' 


47  Martyria. 

48  '  Offeri  ng  of  Sympathy. ' 

49  Author  of  '  Sympathy.' 

50  Shakspeare. 

51  Charles  Swain. 

52  Walton. 

53  J.  G.  C.  Brainerd. 

54  Cowper. 

55  MissHolford. 

56  Jeremy  Taylor. 

57  Montgomery. 

58  Steele. 

59  Grant. 

60  W.  Wallace. 

61  Willis  Gaylord  Clark. 

62  C.  D.  Colesworthy. 

63  'L.  E.  L.' 

64  Francis  de  Sales. 

65  Novalis  (Von  Hardenburg). 

66  Julia  A.  Fletcher. 

67  Caroline  Fry. 

68  Alexander  Pope. 

69  Mrs.  Cath.  Bowles  Southey. 

70  Sydney  Smith. 

71  Horatius. 

72  Burke. 

73  Akenside. 

74  Thomas  Wade. 

75  Robert  Browning. 

76  George  Herbert. 

77  Miss  Sedgwick. 

78  Schiller. 

79  Waller. 

80  James  Martineau, 

81  Miss  E.  Smith. 

82  Miss  E.  Brooks, 

83  Mrs.  Lucy  Hutchinson. 

84  Miss  Dix. 

85  W.  C.  Bryant. 

86  Alfred  Tennyson. 

87  Rev.  J.  Moultrie. 

88  Rev.  Ralph  Hoy t. 

89  Charles  Dickens. 

90  Dr.  Watts. 

91  Lamartine. 

92  Edmund  Flagg. 

93  Wm.  E.  Channing. 

94  James  T.  Fields. 


